Our Mission

Powering the next generation of beverage alcohol with technology that connects brands, distributors, retailers, and consumers through data, context, proximity, and real-time engagement.​

  • Billions are wasted on fragmented, low-intent marketing channels.

  • Brands, distributors, and retailers lack activation visibility.

  • No one knows if activations drive actual consumer action.

  • Retail partners aren’t effectively supported with placements

  • Consumers can’t easily find what’s happening nearby.

the appyhour® difference

End-to-End Value for Beverage Alcohol

Suppliers

Precision brand activation. Retail sales-enablement. Measurable and actionable insights that drive growth.

Distributors

Supplier and retail partner support that turns co-op spend into measurable results.

Retailers

Empowering retailers to better promote their happy hours, specials, events, and features to consumers.

Consumers

Streamlining the way people dicover and enjoy what brands and retailers have to offer.

Who we serve:

  • Innovative beverage alcohol brands investing in GTM strategies, sales execution, and activations to win marketshare
 
  • Forward-thinking distributors investing in technology and data-driven growth to advance their competitive edge
 
  • Chain and local retailers who trust their supplier and distribution partners to be aligned and win together
 
  • Eager consumers looking for a better way to find real-time happy hours, specials, activations, and events nearby

Our Team

50+ years of combined experience across suppliers, distributors, and building industry-leading technology.
Johnson brothers distributing, lilypad technologies, fintech, oskar blues, silver eagle distributing, provi, encompass

Neil Jirele

Founder, CEO

Jake Dye

Co-Founder, CTO

Peter Ladis

Chief Innovation Officer

Kofi Amua-Sekyi

Regional Sales & Partnerships

German Ruiz

Data Engineer

Our Story

AppyHour® Inc. was formally incorporated in 2019—but like all great startup stories, it started with a beer and a painful bill.

While studying abroad in Madrid, Neil (our now-CEO) went out with co-workers to grab a few drinks. When the check came, he was stunned: $8 a beer—more than $12 at the time. On the walk home, a stranger yanked him into a quiet, nearby restaurant. Inside? The exact same beers for a quarter of the price. Bonus: they had live flamenco.

That moment was both annoying and enlightening.

Consumers like Neil were overpaying and missing out. And venues with killer offerings had no effective way to reach the right consumers, with the right offers, at the right time.

“There has to be a way to discover real-time food, drink, and event specials nearby—and a better way for bars and restaurants to reach me when I’m actually deciding where to go.”

- The Aha Moment

Company Evolution

After a bootstrapped alpha launch and strong early traction, Neil took a role at one of the nation’s top 5 liquor distributors to learn more about the industry—and that’s when the bigger picture came into focus.

Here’s what he saw:

  • Suppliers were spending millions on brand activations that lacked data, targeting, ROI, or value for their retail partners.

  • Distributors were overwhelmed and under-incentivized to prioritize brands equitably.

  • Retailers were being left behind—missing out on marketing support and promotional value.

  • Consumers? Still stuck Googling “happy hours near me” and hoping for the best.

That’s when AppyHour evolved.

Pioneering Innovation in Beverage Alcohol

Today, AppyHour® is the industry’s leading end-to-end brand activation and sales-enablement company, building technology for:

  • Beverage alcohol brands investing in GTM strategies, sales execution and brand activation

  • Distributors investing in service-led growth and data-driven technology to advance their competitive edge

  • Retailers eager to drive traffic, push product sales, and grow their business

  • Consumers who want real-time food, drink, and event specials when it matters most.

AppyHour® combines big-data, AI-technology, and market analytics to drive measurable results for stakeholders, and deliver reach to consumers at the point of decision-making and the point of purchase.

We’re just getting started—but the mission remains the same: 

Build industry-leading technology that empower s brands, distributors, retailers, and consumers to win—together.