Refilled - The Smart Drink Dispenser

Inspiration

“I first thought of Refilled in February 2021 in the middle of Covid-19 pandemic.

I’d finished a workout at the gym and was thirsty, so I headed to the bubbler to refill my bottle and grab some water, but unfortunately it was out of order. Frustrated, I walked over to the wall of fridges and vending machines where I knew I could get something. What I saw SHOCKED me. There was an illuminated wall of bottled waters, soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and protein shakes. There would have been thousands of them all waiting to be consumed and ultimately discarded. So I bought one and left the gym, now carrying two bottles in hand, one of them empty and one full. Within about 3 minutes both bottles were empty again and my stainless steel one when back into my bag unused. As I looked for a recycling bin I started to wonder, “why do we need this plastic bottle? I could have just refilled instead.” The worst part is, after looking around for a while I couldn’t find a yellow recycling bin, so I threw it into a red one and off to landfill it went.

It was that afternoon I went home and started working on Refilled.”

I would like to install a Refiller at UON for 12 months so we can save 30,000 bottles from landfills and dramatically reduce the amount of associated CO2 emissions with beverages by 90%. Scope 3 emissions with beverages are enormous as they're so heavy to transport and energy-inefficient to refrigerate. Refilled removes all these problems with our unique and circular beverage technology.

What it does

Refilled can pour 100s of different flavoured still and sparkling drinks into any reusable bottle or glass without producing ANY single-use waste. Think of a vending machine and a sodastream having a baby. Simply select your water type, flavours and boosters, then place your bottle underneath the nozzle and pour! Our independently certified LCA has proven that for every 1L of drink poured from Refilled compared to single-use containers we are 70% more efficient than plastic bottles and 90% less CO2 emissions than aluminium cans.

How we built it

I bootstrapped a prototype in a garage with $60K of my own savings. It took hundreds of hours of research, prototyping and trying different parts before we had a working unit. But it did the job. 4 flavours and a credit card reader on the front led to a couple of thousands of sales then we raised $500k and I quit my sales job and went full-time on Refilled. Since then I've employed engineers, software developers and industrial designers to build the worlds best drink dispenser that is fully Australian Made using 2 contract manufactures in Sydney.

Challenges we ran into

Funding a hardware startup with $500k wasn't easy. We nearly ran out of money several times and made critical mistakes before striking our first key customer.... Google! They ordered 2 machines and we only had 6 weeks to build them. So Stefan and I were up until 2am 3 nights in a row frantically trying to finish machines will all sorts of last minute issues. We finally got them working and installed in the nick of time, with the client being absolutely thrilled with the product/service.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Since launching the first machines 15 months ago we've now saved over 150,000 single-use bottles/cans from landfills and have done hundreds of thousands in revenue. We've raised another $1.6m in funding and are now well on our way to deploying 100 Refillers and saving 1 million bottles a year.

We now have a Refilled Cloud Dashboard that can track the positive impact of Refilled real-time across 1 or all of our machines. In seconds you can check the impact stats of a machine, and in this case UON and how many bottles have been saved from landfill. You then also get a summary of the reduction in CO2 emissions. This can be shared amongst the university community to encourage more positive behaviour via the Local Leaderboard... a celebration of the top 10 students using Refilled.

What we learned

Nothing in business comes easy, it's constant hard work requiring relentless pursuit of your goals and no one will ever care as much as you do. We've learned that moving fast (even with consequences) can be an advantage over your competitors and that your best way to succeed is to empower your team to make decisions without red tape.

What's next for Refilled - The Smart Drink Dispenser

We want to increase our impact and our reach by expanding nationally into Melbourne and Brisbane. We also have customer demand in New Zealand and Singapore that we'd like to fulfil. So to save 100 million single-use bottles by 2030 we need to raise a $10M Series-A and deploy 1000 machines in the next 2 years! We hope to become the most sustainable beverage company in the world by making it easy for people to utilise our circular beverage ecosystem! Cheers!

Project Information for www.refilled.com.au

Project Name: Refilled - Drinks without the waste!

Elevator Pitch: Refilled is on a mission to eliminate 100 million single-use plastic bottles by 2030, empowering individuals and organizations to embrace sustainable refilling practices with smart drink dispensers and reusable bottles.

About the Project

a. Description of Multidisciplinary Team: Refilled's team brings together sustainability advocates, product designers, and tech innovators focused on tackling plastic waste. The project was initiated during the pandemic by a founder who, frustrated by single-use bottles at a gym, envisioned a more sustainable alternative. The team combines expertise in cloud technology, environmental science, and user experience design to create practical, scalable solutions that reduce plastic waste and CO2 emissions.

b. The Proposed Solution

Graphical Depictions of the Solution: Refilled’s primary solution is "The Refiller," a smart beverage dispenser designed to provide still or sparkling water, track refills, and connect users via a mobile app. The machine displays sustainability stats and encourages competition among users to further drive behaviour change.

How the Solution Works:

Users refill drinks into custom-designed smart bottles equipped with QR codes.
Bottles link to the Refilled app, allowing users to track their CO2 savings and the number of bottles eliminated.
The system offers beverage customization, ensuring convenience without plastic waste.

How the Solution Improves Current Options: While traditional vending machines rely heavily on single-use bottles, "The Refiller" completely eliminates the need for disposable plastic. This not only reduces plastic waste but also the carbon footprint associated with production and transportation.

What’s Novel and Creative: The integration of IoT technology with sustainability goals sets Refilled apart. The mobile app gamifies the process, enabling users to track their environmental impact in real-time and encouraging greater participation through leaderboards.

c. Top Three Critical Hypotheses to Explore

User Engagement: Will users adopt the Refilled system in large numbers if gamified incentives are in place?
- Testing: Deploy pilot programs at gyms and offices, with reward systems for top refilling users.
- Tools: Development of app updates to include additional rewards and real-time leaderboard tracking.
Cost Efficiency: Can "The Refiller" reduce costs for organizations over time compared to single-use beverage options?
- Testing: Collect data on beverage consumption and maintenance costs in a controlled environment.
- Next Steps: If successful, expand to other corporate sectors like schools and large office spaces.
Sustainability Impact: Can this system reduce CO2 emissions and plastic waste at the scale envisioned?
- Testing: Track CO2 and plastic savings across multiple installations using cloud data.
- Next Steps: Scale the solution to large metropolitan areas, targeting corporate partnerships.

d. Use of Funding

The AU$10,000 budget will be allocated towards:

Pilot Testing (AU$7,000): Manufacturing an additional dispenser and conducting a small-scale deployment on campus at UON.
Marketing (AU$3,000): Engaging with students and staff via educational campaigns about plastic reduction.

Essential Outcomes:

Validate the hypotheses about user adoption and cost savings.
Refine the app and dispenser system to ensure scalability.

This approach ensures that by the end of the 6-month testing phase, Refilled will have robust data on its environmental impact and market viability within the University market segment.