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In January, WW reported on the development of BuzzCutt, an app by Portland residents Olivia and Sarah Sears designed to help users locate non-alcoholic drinks at bars and restaurants.
Now, with development complete, BuzzCutt is available on iOS, Google Play and Android. And Olivia and Sarah Sears (who are married) are celebrating its launch with the BuzzCutt Summer Fest App Launch Party, which will be held at For Bitter for Worse in North Portland from 5 to 9 pm on Saturday, June 17.
“It’s going to be a big party,” Olivia Sears tells WW. “We’re basically bringing the energy of our brand to life through this party. And it’s unofficially a Pride event as well.”
Admission for the event is $12. Attendees will get two free N/A drinks, plus samples, and witness Jell-O wrestling. There will also be a raffle, with 10% of ticket sales going to True Colors Recovery Center, a local nonprofit that supports recovery resources for the LGBTQ+ community.
For Olivia and Sarah Sears, conceiving, creating (with software developer Approachable Geek) and funding BuzzCutt has been a long journey. “What we learned is that a lot of the non-alcoholic brands are startups themselves,” Olivia says. “They don’t have the capital to sponsor something like this.”
Still, Olivia Sears says the brand has grown (BuzzCutt has raised $14,000 since January) and attracted a formidable following on social media.
“It’s been really inspiring to see the following of our brand explode,” she says. “We’ve had 400% follower growth since January. [The brand] is really resonating with a lot of people.”
With the launch, BuzzCutt is one step closer to becoming what Olivia and Sarah Sears envision: an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to locate N/A beverages as smoothly and safely as possible.
“I think historically, there’s this idea that you’re a rebel if you do things that are bad for you,” Sarah Sears, who is sober, told WW in January. “But now, it’s kind of the opposite. That is another big sentiment of how I’ve gotten back to a place of who I was. And I think there’s this really kind of fun element of this reverse psychology that’s like, ‘rebel for good.’”