Golf Entertainment Goes Mobile
Dryvebox provides an interesting business case in golf entertainment.
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Read Time: 6 minutes.
Hey Golfers —
A doctor wanted to put a golf simulator in his house — his wife wasn’t on board with the idea. So, he got creative.
This is the story of Dryvebox and how they are adding a unique value proposition to the golf entertainment space.
Adeel Yang went to medical school. But the entrepreneur bug bit him before he could make it to residency. He has built and sold two companies — his most recent company was sold to Phillips in 2019. Coincidentally, it’s the same year he picked up golf.
In his words, “I became absolutely obsessed with golf.” Welcome to the club, Adeel.
In 2020, he made gains in his golf game. But, he was concerned he would regress due to a lack of practice from the pandemic. So he asked his wife if they could put a golf simulator in their home. The answer was no.
A few days later, while driving in his hometown of San Francisco, he noticed dozens of trailers parked in an area of town. Why can’t I buy a trailer and outfit it with a simulator?
That is exactly what Adeel did. He worked with a fabricator to outfit a trailer so he could swing a golf club. The first trailer was ‘super ugly’.
It was nothing more than a passion project — a place for Adeel to get better at his game.
He eventually towed the trailer to Stanford’s campus, where his friends were attending business school. A line would start to form of people wanting to hit golf balls.
Adeel had something more than a passion project. He decided to go all in and start Dryvebox in 2021.
He initially self-funded the business and worked with multiple trailer fabricators. The idea sounds simple, but it was relatively complex to execute and design a trailer where a golfer could comfortably swing. Dryvebox has multiple patents on its trailer designs.
Dryvebox raised its first round of investment in 2022 — Adeel recruited a team to build out the company. They grew and added a few new cities with Dryvebox simulators.
But, the business changed significantly in 2023 — they started to add franchises to the business.
As Adeel put it, “We were swimming against the current before rolling out the franchises; now we are swimming with it.”
The reason for franchising was really twofold. They received regular inbound requests to do so. But more importantly, the investment market had dried up. They wanted to continue to grow but needed capital to do so. Franchising made a lot of sense.
Their website lists 23 cities with Dryvebox simulators in the United States. And Adeel says each unit is already profitable.
And they are still in the early innings. There is room for hundreds of Dryvebox units in the United States, and the market has a capacity for thousands.
The business has two primary revenue drivers.
Events
Self-service model
Dryvebox is signing five to six contracts for some events. And there are birthday parties, corporate events, Father's Day, etc. Dryvebox comes to you. You don’t have to go to Dryvebox.
And this is the unique value proposition. There are several fantastic indoor golf companies that are executing at a high level. But they are stationary. What Adeel built from a differentiating factor has been a masterclass in the golf space.
A couple of weeks ago, Dryvebox announced its most recent investment raise from golf organizations. Two specializing in golf investment.
EP Golf Ventures
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Dryvebox has raised over $5 million in total with both rounds.
Dryvebox has formed a partnership with TGL. They have already built custom-branded trailers for three of the TGL teams. The opportunity to enhance fan engagement with TGL is intriguing.
And they have made several stops at PGA Tour events this year. It is a compelling take on fan engagement. And it’s mobile.
Here is why I like Dryvebox.
The cost to build and grow the company is much lower than what we have seen traditionally. The risk is also lower with the franchise model. Dryvebox is staying away from the F&B component — they are strictly about golf.
The estimated initial investment to start a Dryvebox franchise is $137,000 to $364,000.
They aren’t spending millions or tens of millions to expand like some golf entertainment companies. They can also roll out new locations quickly — they do not need to build a brick-and-mortar location.
Go where the growth is.
Maybe by design, maybe by accident. Dryvebox is building in a high-growth area of golf. Off-course golf has grown by 6.3 million participants since 2020.
Originally started as a solution to a problem he had. Adeel and the Dryvebox team have captured massive growth — doubling in size since January.
The demand is there, the execution from the Dryvebox team is there. I’d expect the company to continue to grow in a big way.
And one last caveat that is a positive. Dryvebox can handle conference events of up to 100,000 people. Meaning the opportunity to introduce new people to the game of golf is material.
That is something we can get on board with.
Have a great Tuesday. We will talk to you next week!
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Dryvebox should consider partnering with top golf instructors. They could offer virtual AI based lessons in their mobile units. It would create a scalable coaching experience that combines convenience with personalization based on data.
Jared, when you do think someone will take the plunge and base one of these in Iowa?