Company you should know: Draft Badge
In the summer of 2018, the concept for what would one day become Draft Badge was born. Founder Aaron Kruger along with co-founder Matt Randall spent 2 months living in Prague, Czech Republic while studying abroad as students of the University of Oklahoma. They happened upon a unique pub, and the rest was history.
Upon returning, they began work on the first version of their startup while in class at OU. At this point, the goal was to create a self-service beer machine with a companion mobile app that allowed for ordering and payment. Though the concept may have had some merit, this was by no means a serious business venture at this point.
“Truth be told, we were just trying to have fun with our last semester of college, working on a concept that was interesting to us. We never seriously considered how far it could take us” explained Aaron.
As their graduation was looming, the traction began to pick up. The group was accepted into the Startup Innovation Fund, a grant program provided by the University of Oklahoma to fund research and development of startup concepts. This period of constant interviews and research lead to the big pivot.
“Prior to the Startup Innovation Fund, we wanted to build a solution for everyday people to save time and skip lines while purchasing alcohol. After speaking with countless professionals in restaurants, bars, stadiums and event spaces, we found a much larger problem in liability.” Aaron continued to explain that “because of these key insights, our venture shifted to focusing on liability reduction through technology.”
As graduation came and went, Aaron was forced to make a decision. “Essentially, I had to commit or we had to give up at this point.” Spoiler alert; he chose to commit. “I was lucky to have the support of my co-founder Matt in the early stages of our company. Neither of us knew what we were doing, but we were in it together.”
Months passed as their network and team grew. Aaron explained “on the surface, not much was happening. We spent several months trying to figure out how to create our solution with no real results. Neither of us had any tech experience, yet here we were trying to start a tech company. The deck was stacked against us to say the least.”
Everything changed when Draft Badge was accepted to the Thunder Launch Pad, a startup accelerator run by Stitch Crew. It was here that Aaron began to meet other founders in similar positions. “Honestly, the Thunder Launch Pad taught me how to be a founder.” Aaron continued to say “the biggest hurdle I had at the time was my own self doubt. The Thunder Launch Pad made me believe my business was real, a crucial milestone for any founder.”
Directly following the Thunder Launch Pad, Draft Badge began fundraising with their newly completed team of industry and tech experts. On July 31st, 2020 Draft Badge closed their first round of funding through local angel investors and immediately began development.
Draft Badge officially launched in early March of 2021 as a mobile ID platform built exclusively for alcohol transactions. “I love the path our company has taken. What started as a solution to help people get served faster has transformed into a technology to limit the liability of alcohol consumption.” Aaron continues to say “we provide an easier, faster method of verifying ID along with tools to monitor and control consumption so alcohol merchants can further promote responsible drinking.”
Looking back, Aaron candidly explains that they’ve already won. “For us, the goal was always to create the technology. Anyone starting a company wants it to succeed, but our primary goal was always to publish on the App Store. As a child, I was incredibly interested in technology and dreamed of one day creating something of my own. That dream has been realized, so now we’re dreaming bigger.”
The story of Draft Badge truly exemplifies local entrepreneurial spirit here in Oklahoma. Two business students from the University of Oklahoma with zero experience successfully launched a tech company. This journey was made possible by the Oklahoma entrepreneurship community, or as Aaron puts it “the most collaborative and supportive group of strangers I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”
The future is always filled with uncertainty, but Aaron couldn’t be more excited. “We have so many plans for what our technology will become. The best part is that everything we’ll need is right here in Oklahoma. People often think of places like Silicon Valley, Miami, or Austin as the startup hubs of our nation. Personally, I can’t imagine starting Draft Badge anywhere but Oklahoma. Our most valuable asset is the network we’ve built of community leaders, organizations and industry experts right here in Oklahoma.”
