Spyrides reaches innovation sweet spot

Jason Spyrides, a Moriah College Class of 2015 alumnus, has emerged as an impactful young innovator, app designer and entrepreneur in the Australian scene, and from next week, America.

Now 29 and recently relocated to New York, Spyrides has always been drawn to solving what he calls “overlooked problems” through technology.

In 2024 he created and launched the Weanie app, which grew out of a deeply personal struggle.

A former smoker, Spyrides tried nicotine patches and going cold turkey, and found both approaches to quitting the unhealthy habit miserable.

So he built an app designed to help people to cut back on smoking or vaping gradually, rather than quit outright – a method that had worked for him.

Weanie currently targets smoking and vaping, with room to expand to tackle other unwanted addictions or habits.

Spyrides has emphasised that he wanted the app to feel supportive rather than punitive, noting that life “already throws enough at you” without the added anxiety of an abrupt quit attempt.

He has reflected that after launching Weanie, “I’ve learned a lot about behavioural change, the psychology of addiction, and what actually keeps people engaged in quitting. I’ve also faced the challenge of building a consumer health app with retention in mind.”

His newest venture tackles an entirely different kind of everyday frustration.

Drizzy – a squeezable peanut butter – was co-invented and co-founded by Spyrides alongside Georgia Park after a common mishap in the kitchen – peanut butter gumming up a smoothie blender while honey squeezed out with ease.

“Why can’t peanut butter be like [the consistency of] honey?” Spyrides recalls asking.

That moment sparked Spyrides and Park to spend months in the kitchen refining peanuts, grinding methods and textures, before landing on a 100 per cent Australian, palm oil-free, no added sugar formula product made from premium quality peanuts grown in Kingaroy, Queensland.

Launched direct-to-customer in April 2026, Drizzy sold out its first Australian production run within three weeks, and has since secured Harris Farm Markets shelf space, and is also now stocked at Common Supply in Bondi, and four inner Sydney Maloney’s Grocer stores.

The brand has attracted pre-seed backing from RiverPark Ventures, Nucleus Ventures and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian Sr.

Buoyed by that momentum, and a wave of American demand from social media followers, Drizzy will launch nationwide in the United States on August 24, stocked in nearly 500 Sprouts Farmers Market stores.

The US version of the product is being made using American-grown peanuts, while retaining the brand’s Australian approach to simple, clean-label ingredients.

In a pre-US launch message on Drizzy’s Instagram site, both co-founders’ sense of excitement was palpable.

“It’s pretty surreal that something which started in our kitchen is about to launch nationwide in the world’s biggest peanut butter market.

“To everyone who commented, shared, tagged a friend, or messaged us, asking us to make this happen, thank you.

“Your excitement gave us the confidence to dream bigger.”

The Weanie app displayed on a mobile phone.