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~ Alcocat ~

THE CAT

THAT GETS

YOU HOME

SAFE

Text: Nico Hoeijmans // Photos: Nathalie van de Leur

Do you like partying or visiting festivals? Do you enjoy drinks with friends and chatting

about both the big issues and trivial matters of life? And when it’s time to go home, there is
always that niggling question: can you drive? Well, the answer is Alcocat. Alcocat is here to
tell you when to take a taxi.

aving fun has worked with ventures for over 25 years and handles the
The sun is shining in Barcelona, Spain. Martin and finance and contracts.
HIrene Tooma and Michael Simon are sitting in a bar
enjoying a few cocktails. They state, smiling, that wine is one Boring? Not at all!
of the reasons they moved to the south of Europe, but this The basic idea for the Alcocat alcometer was that it had to
particular afternoon they were thirsty for spirits instead. be fun as well as functional. “The first thing we noticed was
During one of their gatherings a few years ago, they had a that the design standards for alcoholmeters were extremely
discussion about drinking responsibly. At that time, the idea low,” says Martin. “That they are so unattractive makes people
for a new kind of alcohol meter emerged - a fun alcometer. reluctant to use them. That was the first problem we wanted
Conversations, dreams, laughter and wine were the ingredi- to tackle. We believed that if we could create an attractive
ents that created Alcocat, along with the experience of the product that we would want to use ourselves, others would
three friends in their respective fields. want to use it too.”

Martin used to develop and sell sensors for mining compa- While developing its functionalities during the early design
nies. “It is a precise and tricky business, as these companies stages, the Alcocat team decided the product needed to be
need to be very certain about where they are going to dig.” At easy to carry too. “Our product is small, making it possible to
Alcocat, he focuses on the functionality of the product. Irene take it wherever you go,” says Irene. “A big benefit is that our
handles the marketing, using her years of experience to find alcometer uses your smartphone display and has no buttons
the perfect ways to target their projected audience. Michael or display of its own. It also does not need any plastic pipes.

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