Nightlife innovation | Interview with Sophie Abrahamovitch, co-founder and CEO of DUSK | EU-Startups

DUSK is the UK’s biggest nightlife app, showcasing the coolest bars and rewarding users with a free drink every night. 

The app makes it possible for drink brands to get their products into a Gen-z / Millennial audience at scale. Whether it’s the launch of a new liquid or cocktail, or giants like Diageo and Bacardi hoping to engage with a new audience. DUSK allows them to digitally activate in pubs and bars across the UK. 

We spoke with the company’s co-founder and CEO, Sophie Abrahamovitch, to learn how DUSK is revolutionising brand activations and its journey to establishing an engaged audience of 800,000+ users.

What made you decide to launch DUSK?

The idea for DUSK was conceived when Facebook check-ins were being used regularly.

People were ‘checking’ into venues and events and this trend fascinated us – they were essentially providing bars and restaurants with free advertising and exposure to their network. This was absolute gold dust for the hospitality industry, and our idea was to harness it.

So, my business partner and I set about thinking of ways not only to tap into these conversations but to incentivise them – treating customers like micro-influencers. That’s how DUSK was originally born. 

Since then, the business has evolved to work with some of the biggest drinks brands and venues in the UK, demonstrating the value of sampling at scale. 

What has the journey been like since then?

We quickly moved away from needing to tag the venue, when we gained an understanding of just how much value we were providing the bars – driving footfall at quieter times, and as our tech developed, we proved to them how much people were spending after their free drink. 

We then started working with alcohol brands to ‘sponsor’ those free drinks, and we had our winning formula connecting the three stakeholders of nightlife – alcohol brands, venues, and consumers.

Over time, we’ve refined the platform and its focus to provide brands with a scalable, data-driven approach to sampling, bars with new customers and an increase in spend and offering users a way to discover the best bars and pubs in their cities.

We’ve now worked with some of the largest drinks brands in the world, from Patrón to Guinness, and have partnered with the best bars and pubs across the UK and created highly-curated guides for all kinds of users – from a bottomless brunch to the best pint in your local boozer.

We’ve now amassed more than 800,000 users, with a focus on Gen Z, given away more than a million drinks and launched in all major cities across the UK. 

Trends today come and go with incredible speed amongst consumers. What keeps DUSK unique and timeless?

Consumers, hospitality and the drinks industry are intrinsically linked. 

For consumers, we’ve made going out more simple, yet special. We give our users free drinks at the best venues and ultimately help them effortlessly explore their cities. So, for instance, if you’re in Bristol and feel like discovering a hidden gem, you can go into the app and easily spot the low-key places you would have struggled to find otherwise and then, get your first drink free… 

For the hospitality industry, we’ve become a strategic partner for venues, as we’re consistently driving substantial footfall, increasing spend per person and empowering bar managers and owners to manage this influx based on when they’re busy and when they’re usually a little quieter.  

Finally, when it comes to the drinks industry, we’re connecting brands – many of which have a strong heritage and loyal customer base – with new Gen Z and Millennial drinkers. We offer brands access to crucial information that helps them reach their target audiences, driving trials and acquisition. 

Before DUSK, brand activations and sampling were a headache for so many drinks brands. Out of reach from a cost perspective for many new brands, too. We’ve managed to make this not only more targeted and effective for the brands but more enjoyable for the consumer and more commercial for the industry. 

How much has the hospitality sector really changed since the pandemic?

While we’ve seen continued growth since the pandemic, it’s not without its challenges. The World Cup definitely helped, but the cost-of-living crisis has of course left people more conscious of their spending, particularly among younger drinkers, and businesses are managing rising energy costs too. For this reason, it’s really important that bars, pubs and restaurants make the ‘night out’ an experience more than just an everyday occurrence. 

The consumer trend of more mindful drinking is also impacting the hospitality industry, but not in the way many people think. Of course, it means that some Gen Z and millennial drinkers are going out less or choosing no or low-alcohol drinks, but when they do drink, they’re looking for a more premium experience and something that elevates their experience from the ‘norm’.

Has the pandemic been the biggest challenge DUSK has had to overcome?

Without a doubt – not just for us, but for the entire hospitality industry. When the pandemic hit we had to make the difficult decision to shut the app down during that period. 

As hard as this was, it was the most responsible decision we could’ve made for a fast-growing company like ours under those circumstances, and it meant that we didn’t need to make any redundancies. 

We turned the app on again once the rule of six had been lifted and since then, we’ve worked hard to support the industry and grow our audience. 

What kept you inspired during these difficulties?

We always knew that coming out of the pandemic would be challenging, but after months of being at home, we knew people would be desperate to enjoy the UK’s nightlife scene again. 

Being able to help people re-discover their cities while supporting the industry back to growth became our goal and has been the main driver of our growth since the lockdowns ended. 

What are the company’s long-term plans?

People’s response to DUSK has been truly amazing. For this reason, we want to keep growing the app’s presence across the UK. 

There’s incredible nightlife in almost every city in the UK, and more emerging independent venues are really innovating in this space. 

Given the impact we’ve had on consumers, venues and brands in cities we currently work in, from Brighton to Birmingham, we feel confident that we can help even more people discover their cities and uncover hidden gems while supporting more emerging drinks brands and venues. 

To do this, we’re planning better and bigger campaigns, more free drinks, more offers, and a substantial boost to our loyalty reward platform. Separately, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the European and US markets. We’re really excited about the opportunity to continue our growth.