The Australian government recently introduced new packaging regulations after an official review found that just 18% of plastic packaging is recycled, well short of the target of 70% by 2025. Refilled, a Sydney-based startup, wants to help with its smart drink dispensers, which are meant to be used with reusable bottles. Its mission is to save a million plastic bottles from landfill, and early customers include Google.
Refilled announced today that it has raised a seed round of AUD 1.3 million (approximately $845,000 USD) led by Impact investor Melt Ventures, along with participation from Envato co-founders Cyan Ta’eed and Collis Ta’eed. It will use part of the funding to build 100 of its drinks stations, called Refillers, at its factory in Penrith NSW.
Used by organizations such as Google’s Sydney office, the University of Technology Sydney, the University of Sydney, the Aeona co-working space and the Sydney Green House Tech Hub, Refillers are installed in public spaces such as gyms, universities and offices as an alternative solution to bottled and canned beverage machines. They serve still and sparkling drinks in hundreds of flavors, with the option of adding caffeine, vitamins and nootropics. Refilled says that across all its dispenser locations, it has saved 25,000 bottles since its launch in August.
Before starting Refilled, founder Ryan Nelson was one of the co-founders of Foodbomb, an Australian startup that aggregates wholesale food supplies for restaurants. This gave him an insight into the various challenges in the food industry. The idea for Refilled came when he was at the gym and couldn’t find a way to refill his water bottle.
“Instead, I was presented with rows and rows of drinks packaged in single-use plastic,” he tells TechCrunch. “I bought one, drank it straight away and there was no recycling bin. That’s when it dawned on me, this plastic bottle was only used for two minutes and can stay on the planet for 1,000 years. I started working on Refiller that afternoon.”
The refills are different from the typical beverage dispensers you might find in restaurants because they’re designed for use in public areas, not just hospitality areas, Nelson says. It can take credit card payments and track sales and CO2 levels in real time so Refilled knows when a machine needs to be refilled. Each machine can store 100 times more drinks than a traditional vending machine, and a full supply fits in a shoebox, making delivery faster and cheaper.
Recharged CTO Stefan Kent (left) and CEO Ryan Nelson (right) stand with one of the startup’s smart drink dispensers
Five more Refillers are being installed this year, in addition to the 100 to be built. Refilled charges customers a small setup fee and then a monthly subscription fee of a few hundred dollars for each machine. The monthly fee covers renewal and maintenance. Still water is dispensed for free, while flavored, caffeinated, and carbonated water cost about a dollar each. Customers can also choose to allow users to use the machine for free, for example as an office perk. Users can scan a QR code to track their environmental impact and see how many plastic bottles they’ve saved using Refiller, and can purchase a Refilled+ subscription that lets them get every drink for less.
Refilled has two kinds of competitors. The first category is large beverage companies such as Coca Cola, PepsiCo and Nestle. “We want to take market share away from any drink that’s served in a plastic bottle or metal can by being a greener alternative,” says Nelson.
The second category is closer to Refilled and includes Bevi, Zip and Billi faucets, all of which make different types of beverage or water dispensers.
Nelson says tastes and user experiences are very different across these brands and Refilled differentiates itself by providing all-natural, Australian-made flavours. It is also designed for use in many different types of public spaces, not just offices.
In a statement about the investment, Collis Ta’eed said: “Sustainability alone is not enough to get consumers to change their behaviour. The brilliance of Refilled is that it uses a less wasteful model to offer consumers a better, more affordable beverage experience. It’s a win-win.”
