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What is BarHop / 23Branches?
23Branches is a community building company based in Austin, TX co-founded by Javier Villarreal and Dylan Flores. 23Branches is the sole owner of their flagship company and product – BarHop Social. BarHop Social is a life-style company centered around a mobile application of the same name. With BarHop, users are able to safely enjoy nightlife, connect with their friends, and discover local places while saving money on drink specials.
Feature Highlight
For Users
- Angel Shots: Users anonymously message bar staff to report inappropriate behavior. Access this feature by clicking on the bar’s Profile Page and clicking on the Angel Emoji.
- Vibe Check: Check-In to the bar you’re currently at a notify your friends! Use this feature to check the vibe of the night and see what the vibe of the bar is!
- Heat Map: Use this feature to see what’s the move!
- Filter Bars: Use the Filter tab to find bars that have pool tables… and food… and espresso martinis… find YOUR perfect bar.
- Group Messages: Throw the squad in a group message to coordinate your night out! Do not drink alone!
- Community Calendar: Post a local event in your community or discover a local event near you!
- Location Sharing: Users can opt to share their location with their friends, however – a User’s location will only be shared when they are at a bar and up to 10 minutes when they leave the bar. When they are Barhopping!
- Daily Specials & Fire Sales: Through the Feed Tab, you are able to view all the active specials happening in your area to help you save money and discover new places! Bars can also push notifications directly to users who are out drinking in the area to alert them of “Fire Sale” specials which are limited time specials that may only last a few hours.
- Feed: The Feed tab displays all daily specials on that particular day! Any active Fire Sales will appear on the top of your feed above the daily specials. You can also use the Feed tab to access your Shouts and Notifications.
- Bar Profiles: Bar Profiles will display all relevant bar information including address, hours and operation, and any active fire sales and daily specials. You will also use the bars profile to access the Angel Shot Feature.
For Bars
- Angel Shots: The Angel Shot allows Users to anonymously communicate with bar staff to report inappropriate behavior.
- Daily Specials: Bars can post a recurring daily special which are viewable on the user side of the application.
- Fire Sales: Fire Sales are a new form of Flash Marketing which allows bars to push notifications DIRECTLY to users who are already out drinking.
- Analytics: Currently BarHop tracks the following analytics for our client-partners:
- Clicks: How many clicks your bar has received over a certain period of time.
- Users at Your Bar: How many users are currently at your bar.
- Users in Area: How many users are within a 2 mile radius of your bar.
Mission
Our Motto: Bring People Together, Keep People Safe
How it all Started
In December 2019, Dylan and Javi were out on The Square in San Marcos, Texas, doing what college students do best — bouncing between bars with friends. They were posted up at one of their favorites, Chimy’s, laughing about the night before.
But there was a problem.
Every time their group of six went out, the same thing happened. Someone was ready to leave. Someone else had just ordered another drink. Two people wandered off. Someone couldn’t find parking. Someone lost the group text. By the end of the night, the crew had splintered — again — and trying to get everyone back together felt impossible.
Standing inside Chimy’s, Dylan half-jokingly said, “It’d be cool if there was an app that only tracked you when you were at a bar. Like… just when you’re barhopping.”
They laughed.
“We should build it,” they said.
“Call it BarHop.”
As the night went on, they started saying “BarHop” every time something inconvenient happened. Lost your friend? BarHop. No idea where the group went? BarHop. Split check chaos? BarHop. They stopped counting after twenty.
The next day, while playing Super Smash Bros., the conversation continued. They talked about all the other frustrations of nightlife — not knowing where the drink specials were, safety concerns for friends, struggling to coordinate large groups. Like most college ideas between best friends, it faded into the background.
Until the world changed.
In March 2020, the pandemic shut everything down. Bars closed. Campuses emptied. The world felt uncertain. Javi, who was studying Computer Science at the time, called Dylan and said he needed a project — something to focus on while everything felt chaotic.
Ironically, when nightlife disappeared, the idea of improving it became their anchor.
They began building Barhop Social during a time when no one could even go out. It gave them purpose. It gave them connection. It gave them something hopeful to work toward while the world stood still.
Through two years of development hurdles — learning code, navigating startup challenges, and figuring out fundraising as first-time founders with no entrepreneurial background in their families — they kept going. They spent countless days at networking events, pitching investors, refining the concept, and learning what it meant to build something real.
They didn’t just build software — they built community.
They hosted bar crawls across Austin and San Marcos, bringing hundreds of customers into partner venues. They connected with major liquor brands, turning early conversations into meaningful collaborations. They earned Capital Factory’s Golden Ticket Award, recognition from Texas’ leading venture ecosystem — validation that their late-night idea had real potential.
Today, Barhop Social has evolved from a joke at Chimy’s into a working MVP with thousands of users across the Austin–San Marcos region. The team has built strong relationships with local bars, brands, and community leaders, and they are actively raising capital to accelerate growth.
The mission is simple:
Make nightlife more connected.
Make it safer.
Make it smarter.
Barhop started on The Square — with two friends trying not to lose each other on a night out.
What's the name mean?
Barhop Social is just one idea.
From the beginning, Javi believed something simple:
If you name your company after what it does, that’s all it will ever do.
Barhop enhances nightlife.
But 23Branches — the parent company — exists for something bigger: building community and promoting safety in many forms. Nightlife is one branch. There will be others.
So where did the name come from?
It started long before Barhop.
The Hackathon That Changed Everything
On December 2, 2018, Javi entered his first-ever Hackathon at Texas State University alongside his classroom programming partners and close friends, Zoe Schmitt and Adam Castillo. None of them had ever competed in anything like it.
The challenge:
“Hello World — Develop a Video Game in 10 Hours.”
With minimal experience in game design, they didn’t overthink it. They decided to have fun.
They built a simple game where you played as a knight exploring a world. When the knight bumped into a rock, he’d say, “Hello Rock.” When he hit a tree, “Hello Tree.” When he swam in a lake, “Hello Lake.” And when he climbed to the top of a mountain — “Hello World.”
It was clever. A little cheeky. Very them.
Halfway through the competition, they realized something unexpected — the game was actually coming together. Maybe they had a shot at one of the creative awards.
Then, with one hour left…
The code broke.
The game wouldn’t even start.
In their programming class, they had one rule:
You break it, you fix it.
With sixty minutes left, that rule suddenly felt dangerous.
Zoe, a relentless perfectionist, kept refining visual assets.
Zoe: “You broke it, you fix it.”
Javi: “Zoe, the judges won’t see your trees if the game doesn’t compile. What are you even working on?”
Zoe: “The trees. They don’t look right. They need more branches.”
Javi: “How many branches do they need?”
Zoe: “…I don’t know. 23.”
Javi looked at the clock.
“Okay. You have 30 minutes to add 23 branches. Then I need your help.”
In true startup fashion, the team fixed the code and submitted their project with three minutes to spare.
Exhausted. Hungry. Slightly annoyed at each other after ten straight hours without a break.
Then they realized they forgot to submit a team name.
When a judge walked up and asked what they were called, Javi responded sarcastically:
“23 Branches.”
They won first place.
More Than a Name
Javi later named the parent company 23Branches as a reminder of that day.
It represents:
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Believing in yourself before you feel ready.
-
Trusting your team under pressure.
-
Embracing creativity, even when it seems small.
-
Knowing that inexperience doesn’t mean inability.
And most importantly — it represents growth.
A tree doesn’t stop at one branch.
Barhop is one branch.
There will be many more.
23Branches is the belief that when you trust your team and build boldly — even when the clock is ticking — you might just surprise yourself.
And sometimes, you win.
Founders
Javier Villarreal
Chief Executive Officer & Chief Technical Officer / Founder
Javier graduated from Texas State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. In and out of college, Javier held numerous leadership positions ranging from Vice President of Scholarship of Texas State’s Interfraternal Council, Director of Texas State University’s Extended Orientation program, Director of a programming school, and more. During his time in these roles Javier has hired, trained, and managed hundreds of employees, supervised and served thousands of students, and raised and generated tens of thousands of dollars for his respected organizations. Javier has 6 years of experience coding as a programmer. He’s worked with and for numerous startup companies in the greater Austin area ranging from virtual reality to mobile applications and has competed and placed in multiple Hack-A-Thons.
Javier is responsible for managing all initiatives and projects company-wide as well as owning communication with our software development team.
Adrian Gallegos
Growth Director / Founder
Adrian graduated from Texas State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, concentrating in Economics. While in college, he honed his sales and customer-relations skills through door-to-door sales roles and student-run business initiatives. Since graduating, Adrian has excelled as Manager of Mayloo’s—a Barstool Sports Award-Winning bar—where he has been an employee for 6 years and oversees daily operations, trains and mentors staff, and drives revenue growth through targeted promotions and community engagement. A San Antonio native, he leverages his economic expertise and deep local connections to optimize pricing strategies and uncover new partnership opportunities. Adrian is responsible for developing bar-partner strategies, coordinating on-site onboarding, and expanding Barhop Social’s presence in key markets.
The Road Wasn't Easy
Before Barhop Social ever launched, co-founders Dylan and Javier were already in the field building it the old-fashioned way — face-to-face.
In the early days, they organized and hosted three large-scale bar crawls across San Marcos and Austin, drawing hundreds of attendees and generating thousands of dollars in revenue for participating venues including Cat’s Pajama’s Key Bar, Valhalla, Buford’s, Gnar Bar, Mooseknuckle, and others. These weren’t just events — they were proof of concept. Through these activations, the team refined their brand identity, demonstrated measurable value to bar partners, and gathered direct user feedback that would shape the product.
Momentum grew quickly.
At their very first Valentine’s-themed bar crawl, a Malibu representative happened to be in attendance. What started as a casual conversation turned into an organic partnership. Malibu generously contributed in-kind marketing support, allowing Barhop to expand its reach and elevate the attendee experience. The collaboration made sense: both teams served the same nightlife audience, worked in the same ecosystem, and enhanced each other’s presence without competing. It was the first signal that brands saw the potential.
Soon after, Barhop received Capital Factory’s Golden Ticket Award — recognition from Texas’ leading venture platform. During their time inside Capital Factory, the team gained invaluable mentorship from industry operators, investors, and technology leaders. The experience sharpened their strategy and positioned the company for its next phase of growth.
The journey hasn’t been linear. In 2023, all founding members were laid off from their full-time jobs — a pivotal moment that forced a restructuring of the company. Rather than stepping away, they leaned in. In late 2024, Adrian joined the team, bringing new energy and execution focus. In March 2025, Barhop officially relaunched with renewed clarity and momentum.
Since relaunch, Barhop has onboarded thousands of users in the San Marcos market and built strong working relationships with the City of San Marcos, Texas State University’s Health and Safety Department, and the local police department. The platform continues to evolve as both a nightlife discovery engine and a safety tool for the community.
One of Barhop’s proudest partnerships has been with New Belgium Brewing. What began as collaboration has grown into a meaningful and fruitful relationship. Barhop is honored to represent brands like Voodoo Ranger and Fat Tire within the local nightlife ecosystem, helping drive awareness, activation, and measurable engagement at the bar level. Working alongside New Belgium has reinforced Barhop’s mission: to create real value for both venues and brands while elevating the user experience.
Today, Barhop’s focus is simple: deliver measurable value to the City of San Marcos, its bar partners, and its users — and reach profitability. From that foundation, the company plans to scale rapidly into additional markets, bringing safer, smarter nightlife experiences to communities nationwide.
Barhop didn’t start in a boardroom.
It started in the bars — listening, learning, and building alongside the community it serves.
Social Media
Social Media:
Instagram: @barhopsocial
Twitter: Barhop_Social
BarHop Website: barhop.social
23Branches Website: 23branches.com
Brand Guidelines
Hex Code:
#0CBCC5 (BarHop Blue)
Primary Font:
Icelandic
Secondary Font:
Comfortaa