Sunday, February 3, 2019

Wine-Tech: B2C and B2B Wine Technology Businesses

Entrepreneurs far and wide are trying to cash in on building products for wine consumers (B2C) and winemakers / retailers (B2B).

On the consumer-side, two themes stand out:
  • Wine Preservation
  • Subscription Wine Services
And, on the B2B side:
  • Inventory Management
  • Winery Management
The consumer businesses seem to be attracting far greater venture funding, given the large market opportunity versus the limited market within the B2B wine realm. 

If I were budding entrepreneur in the space, the B2B businesses seem potentially interesting if purchased through a search-fund model. Also, there appears to be a gap in the market for wine-focused marketing solutions --- as we continue to hear in class, winemakers have very specific needs when it comes to marketing their products; it seems like there might be an opportunity to build a niche product or services business in this segment, particularly if the entrepreneur (me?? you?!) can build a database of wine consumers & preferences over time and action them through online marketing or through direct mail.

Here's a list of some companies playing to both sides of the space:

B2C
  • Coravin - bottle opener / aerator - $62M raised
  • L18 Holdings - subscription wine service - $131M raised
  • Winc - subscription wine service - $42M raised
  • Penrose Hill - personalized wine subscription - $7.3M raised
  • Plum - wine pouring / preservation - $9M
  • Kuvee - wine pouring / preservation - $6M
B2B
  • Drync - inventory software for alcohol retailers - $4.4M raised
  • Orion - winery management software
  • WineSoftware.com - winery management software
  • WMDB - winemaker's database / winery management software
  • Wine Management Systems - winery management software

Sources:
  • https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/you-had-me-at-merlot-vcs-investing-in-a-new-vintage-of-wine-startups
  • https://www.cbinsights.com/research/wine-tech-startups-to-watch/ 
  • Angelist
  • Crunchbase

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