Discover deals on wine & dine in your vicinity with mobile app Happy Hours
Freebies and discount are integral aspects for Indians while looking for places to wine and dine. Generally we tend to depend on the internet and word of mouth while searching for these ‘happy hours’. However, here comes an updated version of Happy Hours, an Android app which lets you find happy hours across pubs, bars and restaurants in your city.
The app allows users to see various deals and discount for party destinations in one’s vicinity. For pubs and restaurants, Happy Hours helps in managing their outlet and updates deals and outlet information through the
app. “Pub owners can also send out offers to users who are in the locality,” says Ravi Raj, Co-founder & CEO, Happy Hours.Besides the above features, the app also has a happy club section to get access to the exclusive offers organised by Happy Hours (link) in various cities.
How did the idea originate?
“There are always two questions on everybody’s mind -- where do we go to drink and where can we get the best deal for our buck,” says Ravi. When he thought about this, he found that no solution existed which enables users with up-to-date data about offers and happy hours.
“We would travel 20 km to get a deal and we would find out the next day that some others found a better deal closer. We decided to put together this data from a few cities and see whether we could build a business around it,” adds Ravi. After proving their business concept in Mumbai, Happy Hours forayed into eight other cities.
“When we studied the user’s behaviour in Mumbai we realised that most people search for information through their phones. This prompted us to be a mobile first service which provided all the relevant information in a simple to use format,” adds Ravi.
Happy Hours is available on iOS and Android operating systems and soon it will launch for Nokia -- Android phones and Windows. So far it has amassed 2.5 lakh (older version of the app) downloads with over 120,000 active users. Happy Hours is operational in nine cities, including Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Gurgaon among five others.
At present, Happy Hours charges fee for listings and promoting deals and events. Later, it plans to create a neutral marketplace so that app users can post their requirements and the restaurant owners can respond by competing for the business. “We are also looking to include a mobile wallet in the future through which the user can use to foot his/her bills.
When asked about thousands of apps launching every day, Ravi points out, “The marketplace is never crowded for an app which brings value to the user. If an app provides value it will rise above the clutter and stand out.
The company is in the process of raising its first round to expand to 40 other cities in India and globally. We will begin on our global launch in late 2015 and make it available worldwide by the end of 2015 with listing from 45 countries,” says Ravi.
