Munich Startup: What does Redrink do? What problem are you solving?
Adrian Beissel, Redrink: Redrink is the first digital and bottle-free beverage service that supplies its users with delicious beverages tailored to their personal taste through beverage dispensers. The beverages are produced on-site – for example, in offices. Redrink solves multiple problems at once and meets important needs of our time: First, it reduces costs and effort for companies. They no longer have to worry about sourcing and removing bottles for their employees. The time commitment at Redrink is only about 15 minutes per week for companies – we handle the rest. Bottled beverages also cost much more, up to 60 percent more than our bottle-free produced beverages.
Furthermore, choosing Redrink is not an “either/or” decision: either bland water or overly sweet, always identical-tasting soft drinks. Redrink means beverages tailored to your personal taste. Whether mildly or strongly carbonated, whether a bit sweeter or just with a light, subtle aroma: Redrink supplies its users with a wide variety of flavors, mostly in organic quality.
And most importantly: Redrink protects our environment. We follow a “the best packaging is no packaging” approach. Because even the often-praised use of glass bottles harms our environment more than we think. They have to be transported and cleaned after all, which means considerable CO2 emissions. Redrink prevents the use of 51,000 bottles per company and reduces CO2 emissions by several dozen tons.
We already support numerous companies like Celonis, Foodji, Recogni, and Spendit with our beverage solution – and we see that these companies place special value on sustainability.
Redrink digitalizes and refines existing technologies
Munich Startup: But that already exists!
Adrian Beissel, Redrink: Yes and no. Yes, the technology we build on has existed for decades, especially in gastronomy and hospitality, and regular water dispensers exist too. But there have been no major changes in this area for years. Redrink digitalizes and refines the existing technology in the beverage dispenser sector and thus provides better usability that can be implemented in many places – in offices, airports, and then also in public spaces. We provide a more diverse and higher-quality taste experience – our essences are largely organic quality. Redrink ensures that the desired flavors reach companies – because let’s be honest – our tastes are simply different. With Redrink, companies can offer their employees exactly the beverages they enjoy.
Munich Startup: What’s your founding story?
Adrian Beissel, Redrink: We’re both not fans of plain tap water – beverages had to offer flavor and carbonation for us, especially in summer. We both had the bad habit of not passing up an expensive soft drink bottle from a vending machine on a hot summer day. And we commiserated about our guilty conscience over plastic bottle consumption. But a guilty conscience alone doesn’t improve anything. So we thought there had to be something we could actually do about it: use the resource that’s already there, tap water. But away from bottles and beverages tailored to your own taste: the idea for Redrink was born.
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Adrian Beissel, Redrink: Turning an initially idealistic idea into practice was certainly the biggest challenge. Filtering out what might be somewhat fanciful and what’s really feasible – basically, the practical implementation of our idea overall – but we ultimately managed it exactly as we had imagined.
Revolutionizing drinking behavior
Munich Startup: Where do you want to be in one year, where in five years?
Adrian Beissel, Redrink: “Always think big” – that’s how we think. So our goal is to revolutionize drinking behavior in Germany and Austria – sustainably, smart personalized, and healthily. In one year, we want to be represented in the largest metropolitan areas in Austria and Germany and grow as a company so that we can manage this effort. In five years, Redrink should be a brand that everyone in Europe knows – ideally beyond that too.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Adrian Beissel, Redrink: Munich has proven to be a fitting founder location for us. With an initial idea and a first pitch deck, we were welcomed with open arms at Xplore. Then we were accepted into TUM Venture Labs and the Exist funding program, supported by TUM (and probably as the first team without a TUM background). We are in regular exchange and good contact with all universities and their incubators and have received broad support from all sides.
Munich Startup: Public transit or bike?
Adrian Beissel, Redrink: In Munich, we cycle 90 percent of the time, in winter we enjoy taking public transit. But nothing beats Munich’s spring and summer on the bike.
