About the €100k Challenge

At Coca-Cola HBC, we continually explore new ways to invest in our future – and the €100k Start-Up Challenge allows us to do just that.

Now in its second year, the €100k Start-Up Challenge opens up more opportunities for us to discover innovations from across the startup ecosystem, that are aligned to our business priorities.

The winner receives a €100k award from Coca-Cola HBC’s Ventures arm, and gains access to mentorship, support and our industry expertise. 

2023 Challenge

 

The €100k Start-Up challenge opened for applications in March 2023 and the process concluded in September with a final presentation by shortlisted participants to the Coca-Cola HBC Selection committee, comprising members of our Executive Leadership Team.

The winner of the 2023 Challenge was Wecheer’s bottle-as-a-service platform using technology to track every bottle opened, and thus enabling beverage companies to connect with and reward bartenders and other HoReCa staff.

Wecheer_logo Wecheer_logo
zoran-head-and-shoulders-350-350

Wecheer’s team stood out for their creativity, excellent business acumen, and their passion for solving industry challenges. Their patented technology enables companies to capture important insights about consumption occasions and to reward bar staff more effectively than ever before. They stood out among the many great startups that were considered during the process and are very worthy winners of our 2023 €100k Start-Up Challenge.

Zoran bogdanovic CEO, Coca-Cola HBC
image_01

This is the second year we’ve run our €100k Start-Up Challenge and it’s proving to be a vital platform for us to access cutting-edge innovation from the startup space. Since the first Challenge, we’re pleased to see that the quality of the participating startups has increased, and the applicant pool has become more diversified.

Yannis Stamoulis Head of Venturing, Coca-Cola HBC

The Winner

WeCheer WeCheer

Wecheer is a Bottle-as-a-Service platform using patented technology to track every bottle opened. Using image recognition, Wecheer’s patented ‘Smart Bottle Opener’ can instantly identify the act of consumption - time, location, and brand - of any crown-capped bottle while it’s being opened. 

Not only does the technology have the potential to provide valuable insights for consumption occasions, it also enables beverage companies to unlock promotional opportunities every time a brand is recommended, or a bottle is opened, using the connected Smart Bottle Opener.

The Finalists

Boostbar's solution turns every vending machine into a small e-commerce store with a single user interface to digitise any point of sale.

 

Dishcovery Dishcovery

Dishcovery is all-in-one front-end solution for restaurants, combining self-ordering with an interactive digital menu, seamless delivery/takeout, and intelligent CRM. 
 

Drinkotec offers smart drink dispensers embedded with intelligent software and sensors for advanced management.


 

HOPA is a digital ‘Touchpoint’ solution for HORECA businesses using dynamic and interactive tags that can be tapped with smartphones to access information, menus, promotions, and more.

Unipiazza’s coalition-based loyalty program allows customer to scan a key ring or a card at an affiliate store checkout to earn "coins".
 

Wilkins Avenue AR is a cutting-edge Augmented Reality company that crafts immersive and engaging AR experiences for some of the world's greatest brands.

Yanu’s fully Autonomous Robot Bartender mixes cocktails or mocktails or delivers soft/sparkling drinks for applications in the hospitality sector.

Foodobox is a marketplace platform that fights food waste, connecting food stores with end customers through a mobile application.