Nectar Labs’ connected pourers and stoppers could save hospitality industry $50B

Meet Nectar Labs, the Palo Alto, California-based startup focused on the hospitality industry, and specifically, its bottle service. Thanks to its connected pourer and stopper, Nectar Labs believes it can help reduce the $50 billion in lost revenue currently plaguing the hospitality industry as a result of wasted booze. And if that doesn’t sound like a fun problem to solve, we don’t know what does.

Using ultrasound technology and a software platform that promises to precisely measure how much alcohol remains in a given bottle, Nectar Labs hopes to help restaurants and bars automate inventory, manage shrinkage, and help with self-replenishing.

Promising to “literally [put] a cap on the multibillion-dollar lost revenue crisis that impacts any business with a bar,” Nectar Labs’ special cap stays in constant communication with the companion app, keeping track of inventory with each and every pour. When the pourer senses that the contents of the bottle are running low, it can automatically place an order with the bar’s selected distributor, giving bar managers precious time back in their busy days.

“Nectar is doing for alcohol consumption data what Google did for click through data. By bringing disciplined metrics to a previously unmeasured space, Nectar is closing the massive information gap to make the bar industry more intelligent and efficient,” said Nectar co-founder and CEO Aayush Phumbhra. “With sell-through data available in real-time, and self-replenishment a reality, Nectar will improve the unit economics of the industry.”

Nectar’s pourer and stoppers both promise universal fit, so whether you’re pouring from a bottle of Bulleit or Hendrick’s, you can use the same cap. The airtight seal of the product also ought to stand up to the wear and tear of bar life, and is guaranteed to be both alcohol- and wash-proof. And while the technology within Nectar Labs’ products is quite advanced, setup is anything but — simply replace your standard pourer with this connected version, sync it to the app, and start moving.

“Until now precise inventory control and management have been guesswork. It’s insanely difficult to track how much bars and restaurants serve — and lose — on a given night, let alone over a month or a year,” said Nectar co-founder and chief operating officer Prabhanjan “PJ” Gurumohan. “Nectar’s technology tackles this global, multibillion-dollar problem by seamlessly integrating into a bar’s existing operations. It’s accurate, noninvasive, and doesn’t force the bartender to change how they do their job.”