Jake Hutt has a Trackman and he will travel. Name the destination. He's good to go. A PGA-certified instructor with a pla...
Problem
Golf is a life-changing sport, but it's out of reach for most
Golf is fun. It creates connections. But it's expensive. It's weather dependent. It's hard to get to and takes a lot of time. It's challenging to learn. It's burdened by pretentious connotations. Put simply: The game is not accessible, and that limits its reach.
Growing the game begins with making it more available, less expensive, and more fun.
Solution
Increase access with mobility and technology
Dryvebox grows the game across the spectrum, starting by knocking down the traditional barriers to golf. We built and patented a solar-powered trailer with industry-leading simulator technology inside. With that, we make golf cheaper, available year-round, judgment-free, and closer to everyone.
Dryvebox excites the core golfer by providing a quality experience with the technology that pros use. We attract the "interested in golf" crowd with approachable pricing, lessons for any level, and group and team events. Finally, we open the game to people who never would have imagined they could golf, by being local and part of the community.
Product
Learn, play, party anywhere
Dryvebox provides mobile golf experiences, anytime, anywhere.
We're captivating people with our fleet of mobile golf simulators.
Dryvebox currently offers lessons, individual practice/play, and events. Our mobility enables us to deliver these experiences to places and people that traditional golf and other providers can't reach.
Traction
Lines out the door
When the Dryvebox shows up, so do the crowds.
Since launching in the Bay Area, Dryvebox has built a market-leading mobile golf experience and received an influx of interest to deliver our trailers across the world.
We've done it all, from serving as a vendor at major tournaments to partnering with youth organizations to introduce the game to children in their own neighborhoods.
Dryvebox is growing quickly. We've successfully popped up in other major markets like Los Angeles, New York City, and Boston.
Dryvebox served as an official on-the-course vendor at the 76th U.S. Women's Open at The Olympic Club in 2021.
Dryvebox is well underway to becoming a key part of the Bay Area community and is poised to expand.
Customers
People love Dryvebox
Dryvebox has seen our mobile golf experience delight both businesses and consumers alike. Young or old, experienced or not, people are getting into the Dryvebox to experience the game—and they're loving it.
Businesses are booking for team building or for their customers as an added source of entertainment. Charity events, pandemic re-openings, large scale events, employee appreciation days—the options are endless.
On the consumer side, our differentiated golf experience has led the way. Golfers and non-golfers look forward to swinging their swing in a local Dryvebox.
Business model
Accelerating trailer payback
Our current revenue model is driven by hourly rates for our Learn, Play, and Party offerings. We've launched a subscription membership offering to begin building a stream of recurring revenue. We project paying back trailers in less than 2 years.
As we begin to scale, we expect our trailer economics to improve on both ends through the addition of new, high-margin revenue streams and improvement of our costs. Several additional revenue opportunities lie ahead on our roadmap, including ad sales, event-based and longstanding branding partnerships, merchandise sales, and cross-selling opportunities for golf accessories, apparel, and equipment.
Market
There has never been more interest in golf
As Golf Datatech put it, "all segments of the golf economy continue to prosper." Golf rounds played in June 2021 landed at an all-time high. In sum, the world is experiencing strong new entrant demand, paired with existing enthusiasm from core golfers. This presents a large and growing total addressable market for Dryvebox.
On top of that, off-the-course experiences, like Dryvebox, are experiencing massive growth, with 12.1M people participating in off-the-course golf activities in 2021.
Our brand and product offerings are attractive to both the new entrant as well as the core golfer, enabling us to ride overall market tailwinds.
Source: Golf Datatech, National Golf Foundation
Competition
Our mobility enables us to provide a new category of golf experiences
Dryvebox created the market for a high-quality, mobile golf experience. We're capitalizing on that competitive advantage of being first to market, as well as patented technology in our boxes (with more patents pending!) and multiple filed trademarks covering our brand.
Dryvebox is the company known for bringing a quality, fun experience to anyone. Alternatives to Dryvebox include regular driving ranges and courses and tech-enhanced but fixed-location golf experiences like Topgolf, Drive Shack, Five Iron Golf, Golftec, and XGolf, and small regional players that service events with golf simulators in tents and inflatables.
Dryvebox continues to innovate and maintain a competitive advantage with high-quality, accessible offerings that are easy to book and enjoy.
Vision and strategy
Becoming a staple of local communities
We envision a future with boxes around the world. Our objective for the U.S. is to have a box within 10 miles of 80% of the population. To get there, we'll build more products and experiences around our core offering, establish a vibrant community of players and coaches, partner with non-profit organizations as well as businesses, and continue to focus on growing the game through creating an inclusive and fun experience.
In the nearer term, we will use revenue from operations as well as capital raised from Republic to finance growth into new business lines, additional boxes and iterations on box design, marketing and brand-building, and headcount.
Funding
Raised $2.5M to date in our seed
Our cap table features prominent investors and figureheads of the sports, media, and entertainment industries, and we're supported by key advisors in the golf industry.
Founders
Multi-exit founders and golf pros
Adeel, Jake, and the founding team know how to build, scale, and run a successful business. They are plugged into and influential in the golf industry, and they are loving the impact Dryvebox is having.
Adeel Yang, Cofounder and CEO. Dryvebox is Adeel's brainchild. He got hooked on golf just prior to the pandemic. With the pandemic shutting him out from the game, he scrambled to find a way to play. Having a simulator in his San Francisco flat (competing with kids' bedrooms) was not an option, so Dryvebox was born.
Adeel is leading Dryvebox's efforts to make golf available to everyone. Plus, this startup isn't his first rodeo. Adeel brings more than ideas and intelligence to the table; he's been founding and running successful startups for over a decade.
While a medical student, Adeel cofounded Picmonic, Inc., an edtech company. After graduation, he and his cofounders continued with the business full time. With Adeel's leadership, Picmonic served over 1M students around the world.
After Picmonic, Adeel cofounded Medumo, a patient engagement platform. Medumo was in the winter 2018 class of YCombinator. The company raised 3 rounds of funding on its way toward an ultimate exit with Philips in July 2019. Adeel worked at Philips, continuing to grow Medumo internally, until turning full time to Dryvebox. Picmonic was acquired by TrueLearn, an LLR-backed digital health company in August 2021.
Jake Hutt, Cofounder and CGO. Jake is one of a kind. He's a talented coach, able to get a new player excited about the game and coming back, as well as lead seasoned players to better shots and lower scores. After becoming a PGA Class A professional, Jake coached at the Stanford Golf Course for several years. He then built a massive online following on top of his thriving coaching business. Jake's engaging, easy to understand, and fun golf videos are what set him apart. With Dryvebox, Jake is responsible for building and maturing our product and experience, owning our coaching program, and developing marketing content.
Mike Leong, Cofounder and CTO. Mike brings technical talent and deep golf experience to Dryvebox. Adeel found Mike in his hunt for the very first Trackman to put in the prototype Dryvebox. Mike had a Trackman and a knack for engineering, Adeel had a box, and the rest is history.
He graduated with a masters degree in Computer Engineering from Santa Clara University in 2004, and then went on to pursue a career in the golf industry, eventually turning professional. After playing professionally, Mike became the Director of Operations for Crystal Springs and Los Lagos golf courses in California. Mike then returned to his love of software engineering, and prior to joining Dryvebox, worked as an engineer and leader at Citrix, Walmart, Uber, and TikTok.
Matt Gipple, Cofounder. Matt brings to Dryvebox a wealth of experience in helping scale and run technology businesses. Graduating with an honors degree, summa cum laude, in finance from the University of Arizona, Matt continued his studies and earned his JD at Stanford Law School. Subsequently, Matt practiced at the global law firm Latham & Watkins and clerked for a federal judge. Matt then joined the self-driving car startup Cruise as their first attorney. As their General Counsel, Matt helped lead the organization through its $1B+ acquisition by General Motors, over 150x employee growth, multiple launches, over $7B in capital raised, and the creation of countless new laws and policies regarding self-driving vehicles. Matt left Cruise to found another legal team, this time in the healthcare space, at Forward. While there, Matt supported the company’s expansion into new markets across the United States, completion of a Series D round of over $200mm, and growth in overall and legal and compliance teams and maturity. Matt leads Dryvebox’s corporate strategy, growth, and G&A functions.