🦄 Unicorner Startup of the Week:

Sunnyside

✍️ Notes from the Editors

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Accountability and mindfulness apps aren’t unfamiliar concepts—but applying them to building healthy habits is still a growing space.

Take Sunnyside, for example. The app helps people explore better relationships with alcohol that aren’t all just about going cold turkey.

There’s a lot of promise in help apps like Sunnyside, and we’re excited to explore the space.

- Ethan and Arek 🦄

Alcohol moderation—with science

Sunnyside is an app for mindful drinking and tracking alcohol intake. By using behavior-change methods, it assists users in cutting down on alcohol consumption and enhancing their well-being. Its goal is to improve sleep, encourage a healthier diet, save money, and boost energy. Offering personalized plans and expert-backed support, the app helps users reach their goals in a supportive, non-judgmental space.

🔗 Check it out: sunnyside.co

💰 Business Model

Users can subscribe to Sunnyside for $99/year through their iOS or Android apps.

📈 Traction and Fundraising

• Raised $11.5 million Series A led by Motley Fool Ventures with participation from Offline Ventures, Scribble Ventures, Uncork Ventures, Will Ventures, Wisdom Ventures, Adjacent, Joyance Partners, Cooley, Eudemian Ventures, and Mike Lee (founder of MyFitnessPal)

• Since launch, helped over 200,000 people cut out 13.5 million drinks

👫 Founders

• Nick Allen, CEO: Previously Director of Member Retention @ IPSY, Head of Growth @ Lyft

• Ian Andersen, CGO: Previously Director of Product Marketing @ Microsoft, Director of Growth & Marketing @ MileIQ

📖 Founder Story

Nick, Sunnyside's CEO, founded the company after recognizing the need for a practical approach to mindful drinking that wasn't about complete abstinence. Both he and co-founder Ian grew up with alcoholic parents. Nick wanted to help people improve their relationship with alcohol without judgment. His journey began when he realized that cutting back on alcohol significantly improved his sleep, diet, and productivity. Understanding that many people shared his desire for healthier drinking habits, he created Sunnyside to provide personalized support and positive behavior change techniques, making it easier to adopt mindful drinking for a balanced lifestyle.

In partnership

🔮 Our Analysis

Alcohol moderation can be a touchy subject—but it doesn’t have to be. 

Sunnyside recognizes this, and has taken it into account with all of its design choices on its app. Some of these features include SMS reminders to keep track of goals and a dashboard to let you know how much money you’ve saved and calories you’ve avoided consuming. On one hand, this works toward motivating the member by showing them how much progress they’ve made. At the same time, it does this while accommodating the many different types of people who might want to lessen their calorie intake.

One only has to visit the Sunnyside website to see the many different reasons—and member profiles—of people looking to lower their alcohol intake. These include those looking into reducing/quitting drinking, losing weight, avoiding hangovers, and more. The app’s sign up flow takes these into account, helping the member meet their unique goals. And to make this a reality, the company follows a science-backed approach which ensures members are met with a positive and guilt-free experience.

Another focus Sunnyside offers is its community. This includes features like community chat and community-driven monthly challenges. With this, Sunnyside acknowledges that alcohol moderation doesn’t have to be a lonely journey, bringing people with similar goals together.

Sunnyside stood out to us, because it’s demonstrating a strong understanding of its niche, and building a product that’s inline with that community’s goals. Much of its new funding is being put toward a new AI-powered coach named “Sunny'' that generates human-reviewed recommendations to members. Given all this, we’re excited to follow the company’s sunny future.

📚 Further Reading

• Mindful drinking app Sunnyside lands $11.5M to launch its AI-powered coach [TechCrunch]

• Sunnyside Blog [Sunnyside]

Written by the editors

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