First Beverage Ventures, the private equity arm of First Beverage Group, has made an investment in Drizly, a technology company powering a superior shopping experience for beer, wine and liquor. First Beverage participated along with Polaris Partners and existing investors in a $13 million Series A financing.
Drizly will use the proceeds to continue expansion of the industry standard for legally connecting alcohol supply and demand for the three-tier system, which comprises distributors, suppliers and sellers. The company expects to invest heavily in product development, sales and marketing, operations and global distribution.
“We’re extremely excited to partner with the Drizly team in this next phase of their growth,” said William Anderson, founder and CEO of First Beverage. “Drizly represents another investment into a highly differentiated, game-changing business plan for our private equity division.”
“Nick, Cory and the rest of the Drizly team have built an offering and a platform that is emblematic of the dynamic and exciting new way that consumers, retailers, distributors and suppliers are conducting commerce,” said Tom First, Managing Partner of First Beverage. “Drizly empowers the beverage supply chain and truly brings value to everyone along the way. We are thrilled to be their partner.”
Conceived in 2012, Drizly’s technology and business model have created a legal framework for enabling licensed retailers to exploit opportunities in e-commerce, digital media, and data-driven marketing and operations. With the consent of regulators across the United States, Drizly currently operates in more than 15 American cities, with more than 150 retail and supplier partnerships.
“In the past year, we’ve expanded from two cities to 15, grown our staff from three to 42 and built a product that makes purchasing alcohol informative, convenient and fun,” said Nick Rellas, CEO and co-founder of Drizly. “We’ve laid the foundation and now through this latest round of financing, we’ve set our sights on growing our footprint across North America, increasing our visibility through larger marketing spends, and continuing to build out innovative products that produce new opportunities for brands and publishers.”
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About Drizly
Drizly is a technology company powering a superior shopping experience for beer, wine and liquor. Combining the best selection and price, content-rich and personalized shopping experiences, and the speed and convenience of on-demand delivery, Drizly delivers “The Joy of Drinking” to legal-age drinkers across the United States. Backed by a world-class group of angel and institutional investors, the company has raised $17.8 million to become a superior place to shop for beer, wine and liquor in Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York City, Providence, Seattle, St. Louis and Washington D.C., and other cities across the United States. For more info, visit www.drizly.com.