The 2021 Amazon Launchpad Innovation Grants cast the net wide to find Australia’s most innovative new businesses who deserve a boost to help them go global. An expert panel chose five winners – let’s meet them.

A desire to be on top of his health game while still enjoying the taste of a few cold ones was the impetus behind Julian Sanders’ non-alcoholic beer brand UpFlow Brewing Co.

Two years after the Global Financial Crisis hit, many businesses were still fighting to stay afloat. Consultant engineer Julian Sanders did something different. He flew his self-built plane across Europe with his wife Helen throughout 2010.

“Business is not even and consistent – there are times to push hard and times to back off,” Julian tells Kochie’s Business Builders. “The GFC in London was a time to back off. I wouldn’t give up an immediate commercial opportunity to sleep in a tent under the wing across 100 farmers’ grass airstrips all over Europe, but since I had nothing better to do, allocating capital to the plane kit and exploring the continent by this method made perfect sense. The plane ends up being worth more than it cost you to make and 60 per cent of the travel budget was fuel. We would have spent more money each month sitting in London paying our mortgage and doing nothing.”

After acquiring a taste for wheat beers in Southern Germany, the now Melbourne-based entrepreneur founded Spark Breweries in 2013, which has designed and built 47 breweries around Australia over the past seven years.

The business idea: Non-alcoholic beer

Julian’s adventurous spirit and desire to stand out from the crowd hasn’t disappeared. It’s been channelled into his new venture UpFlow Brewing Co, a range of alcohol-free, full-flavoured beer made solely from high-quality malt, hops and water, fermented by yeast.

UpFlow was created because, while Julian loved drinking beer, he also wanted to be at his best mentally and physically to enjoy his passions of technology, commerce, flying planes and sailing.

He says there are two main demographics that the company attracts: Those in their mid-20s who want to celebrate and not miss out but who are high-performance and “have better things to do than being drunk” and 40 to 60-year-old men who are moderating their alcohol.

“Our product works well as a sometimes beer,” says Julian. “Even the people who take zero beer as a personal affront bring UpFlow into their lifestyle in their own way. To the last man, each starts drinking it. It’s hilarious to watch.”

Fancy a pale ale, hangover free? Image: Supplied.

A focus on brewing technology and quality

When you’re running a business, it’s important to have confidence in your products, and Julian has it in spades for UpFlow, which took out first and second place in a blind, independent tasting of 25 beers by online magazine Crafty Pint in December 2020.

“So many consumer FMCG products are all show and no go, so I wanted to build a business based on fundamental truths,” Julian says. “We brew a better beer that tastes amazing, has half the energy, and you can drink 10 – with breakfast.”

Innovate or die

Alcohol-free beers are not new and Julian admits the company has several competitors so he’s continually looking to innovate. “Innovate or die? We’ll innovate; we don’t mind at all.”

In November last year UpFlow launched Australia’s first-ever range of hypotonic sports beers to be enjoyed before games, as well as at half-time. The non-alcoholic beers are designed to provide hydration to athletes by replacing lost electrolytes and delivering nutrients to support recovery and long-term sustainable high performance.

The hypotonic beers are already proving popular with sports people like Elijah Ware, former Port Adelaide Australian rules football player who enjoys being able to “smash beers throughout the season without feeling guilty”.

UpFlow’s Julian Sanders (middle right) is brewing success. Image: Supplied.

Long-term international expansion

UpFlow launched in the UK in January 2020 and when COVID-19 hit, it paused the UK rollout to focus on the Australian market eight months ago. Its products are currently available from its online store and a number of bottle shops, as well as Amazon.com.au.

Julian says he expects a “significant proportion of global sales” to come from Amazon’s channels in the US and UK within two years. Winning one of the 2021 Amazon Launchpad Innovation Grants will no doubt speed up this process.

Amazon Launchpad is Amazon’s program to help startups and entrepreneurs grow their business online, assisting brands with inventory management, order fulfilment, customer service and marketing so they can focus on innovation.

The $200k grant package includes $20,000 in cash, Amazon advertising support, industry connections, an exclusive Amazon boot camp experience with Amazon experts, a national advertising package with JCDecaux Nurture, and onsite marketing placements on Amazon.com.

It’s the kind of mentorship and marketing support growing businesses dream of. With this marketing boost, UpFlow is poised to reach more customers across Australia and will be able to leverage Amazon’s fulfilment and logistics network to get the products to customers in greater numbers.

That’s good news for Julian.

“We’ve developed a 50-year brand strategy up front and its story arc will play out over time,” he says. “We aim to improve every aspect to ensure that we are as good as we can be, before we raise capital and go big.”

Meet the other Amazon Launchpad Innovation Grant winners:

This former jet ski and car racer is bringing bamboo bandages to the world

Milkdrop is making painful breast pumping a thing of the past

Helping parents is the mission behind the very clever Goldilocks Suit for babies

This Aussie startup is cleaning up the hand and body soap industry

Find out more about how new and emerging brands are growing locally and scaling globally on Amazon Launchpad.

This article is brought to you by Kochie’s Business Builders in partnership with Amazon Launchpad.