This veteran U.S. Army Ranger gave up his military career after getting caught driving drunk—but all was not lost. He took lemons and made hard lemonade as the founder of Cheers, a New York-based startup that delivers alcohol straight to your door.
All the fun, without the trouble, according to founder and CEO Cardia Summers.
The app allows users to have their desired beverages delivered from a nearby liquor store to their door for $2.99 per order plus the cost of alcohol. Deliveries are made throughout New York’ City’s five boroughs within in an hour.
Summers, 29, said the new app is “the product of my redemption,” according to The New York Post.
He gave up a full-time equity-capital-markets offer from veteran-owned investment bank, Drexel Hamilton, and secured seven figures in committed capital from private investors. It wasn’t easy.
“The toughest part was raising capital, as you know less than 1% of venture capital goes to black founders, so it required me working at night intermittently when I didn’t have classes, while walking door to door throughout Manhattan in recruiting liquor store owners to our app,” the Hopkinsville, Ky. native said.
The app has already received its New York State license to transport liquor, Summers said, and he hopes to launch it next month.
There’s also a chance for Cheers to ferry alcohol to fans in their seats at games.
All-in-all, the new venture “isn’t about getting rich,” he said. “If it was, I wouldn’t have left an Ivy League school and six-figure Wall Street job.”
He’s more concerned with keeping people safe.
“If I can do that while providing life to a party, I think we’re successful,” Summer told The Post.
To stay in the loop for the Cheers’ app launch, check out its website and follow it on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.