FOUNDING PARTNER PROGRAMME — COHORT 1 / 2026
Your door is already a safety net.
We're giving it teeth.
Queer nightlife runs on staff who already step in when someone's had too much. On bouncers who already call cabs for men they don't know. On regulars who already keep eyes on the friend drinking on their own. HOTMESS makes that work visible, traceable, and licensable.
We open the founding cohort to 115 paid Founding Partner spots + 25 free Recovery Partner spots this week. Venues. Saunas. Promoters. Retail. Wellness. Recovery. Media. Pick the tier that fits the room you run.
See the tiers →The work is already happening. We just give it a floor.
Across four London queer WhatsApp groups we have direct visibility into, 2,616 active members are coordinating their nights with their thumbs. Where's everyone tonight. What's on. Where to find tickets. Who's around. Who's safe.
We analysed an 8-year export of a 1,021-member group. 37,364 messages. 18% map directly to HOTMESS features — event drops, presence signals, connection intent, safety asks, retail mentions. That's 5,698 messages of pure HOTMESS behaviour with no HOTMESS to channel it.
Every one of those messages is your customers organising the night your venue is part of. We surface that work as a platform. You sit inside the platform. They find you faster, safer, and more consistently.
Choose your tier
Six paid tiers, plus one free care tier. Pick the one that fits.
Founding Venue
Standard globe pin · 2 beacons/quarter · 1 NFC + 2 QR Tap-Pack. Annual.
Founding Signal
Pulsing globe pin · 4 beacons/quarter · 2 NFC + 4 QR Tap-Pack · Licensing Letter. Annual.
Founding Anchor
Persistent named label · 8+1 beacons/quarter · co-branded Tap-Pack · HNH MESS launch pack · monthly call · bespoke Licensing Letter · postcode exclusivity.
Founding Promoter
Movable globe pin · unlimited events · portable NFC fob + QR · 4 beacons/quarter. Flat.
Founding Chain
Multi-site operator partnership. Base covers 3 locations; +£200 per additional location. Pooled beacons. Annual.
Care infrastructure
For recovery, wellness, and harm reduction.
Distinct visual register. Same platform.
Founding Wellness
Calm globe pin (recovery-aware visual) · 1 NFC + QR · Licensing Letter · Recovery-network adjacent.
Founding Recovery
Free, forever. For queer recovery, harm reduction, and mental health organisations. No paid tier, no upsell, no data extraction. One-page mutual commitment letter.
Get in touch →The Safety Suite. Live today.
HOTMESS ships with a working harm-reduction safety suite — not a roadmap promise, real infrastructure operating now.
Silent SOS
One-tap emergency signal. Trusted contacts receive SMS via Twilio within seconds.
Fake Call
Simulated incoming call to escape uncomfortable situations. No internet required.
Check-in Timers
User sets a return-by time. If they don't dismiss it, trusted contacts get alerted.
Help Beacon
Privacy-protected globe-anchored signal. Visible to trusted contacts and venue staff if user opts in.
Trusted Contacts
User-managed, GDPR-by-design, consent-first.
Location is shared as anonymised coordinates — precise enough to help, but with no reverse lookup to addresses or venue names. Users control precision in settings. Trusted contacts can see where but never where, by name of place. GDPR Article 5 data minimisation built into the architecture.
Founding Anchor partners receive a Letter of Partnership for Licensing Review — a one-page document on HOTMESS letterhead documenting your venue's participation in this safety network. Useful for licence renewals, insurance audits, and demonstrating proactive harm-reduction infrastructure.
Beacons — when commerce becomes a signal, not noise.
Beacons are time-limited, qualifying drops that surface on the globe. They show up because they're real — not because someone paid for an ad slot.
- New product launch — first time shipping
- Sale or discount — meaningful percentage off (≥15%), real end date
- Exclusive / limited drop — capsule, collab, anniversary edition
- Founding partner exclusive — HOTMESS-member-only offer
- Event tie-in — pop-up, residency, anniversary, takeover
Beacons ship within 10 days of founding partner signup. Founding partners sold the feature in week 1 will be the first to use it.
Your door becomes physical infrastructure.
Every founding partner receives a HOTMESS Tap-Pack — NFC tags and QR backup posters. Users tap their phone on arrival. What happens:
- Verified check-in for the venue (you get the data)
- Safety Suite primed for the user (their trusted contacts can locate them)
- Globe visibility if the user opts in (your venue lights up with real-time presence)
- Beacon engagement — if you've dropped a beacon, users see it surfaced contextually on arrival
Tap-Pack ships within 14 days of founding partner signup. Anchor tier receives co-branded NFC tags plus the HNH MESS 12-bottle launch pack.
Questions before you sign?
What happens after my founding year?+
Founding partner status is recognised as permanent. After year 1, the relationship continues at standard rates (announced in advance), but your founding designation, badge, and Welcome Portal access stay. Tier benefits continue unless we substantially change the offering, in which case we'll notify you with reasonable transition assistance.
Refund policy?+
14-day full refund from purchase, as long as you haven't yet activated your Welcome Portal. After activation, refunds are at our discretion (we'll always be reasonable).
Are you VAT-registered?+
Smash Daddys Ltd is registered in England. VAT status is currently below threshold — your invoice will reflect this. If we register, future invoices will include VAT and you'll be notified.
How is my data handled?+
Per the partner terms. In short: your arrival data is yours, anonymised aggregates contribute to network intelligence, we never sell partner data, GDPR-architected throughout. Compliance email: compliance@hotmessldn.com.
Can I see who else is a founding partner?+
Founding cohort goes public on the platform launch. We won't disclose names until then. We can confirm partner categories in advance.
What if HOTMESS doesn't deliver on the promised features?+
Beacons and Tap-Pack are sold as week-2 features (live within 10-14 days). Globe presence and Safety Suite are live today. If a promised feature isn't operational by its date, we'll either refund the portion attributable to that feature or extend your founding year — your choice. We'll never just shrug it off.
Founding cohort closes when the spots fill.
Choose your tier. Pay. Welcome Portal activates within 24 hours. Your pin appears on the globe within 48 hours.
Choose your tier →Recovery Partner (free, no sign-up) → · Media Partner enquiries