Alcohol-delivery service Drizly has raised $34.5 million in fresh funding, TechCrunch reports. Funding came from 17 total investors, according to a SEC filing, that included Polaris Partners and Baird Capital.
Drizly’s online store offers local, rare, and mainstream beers, wines, and liquors directly to consumers. Customers order their booze du jour, along with extras like mixers and garnishes, through the Drizly app. A participating retailer in that area will then prep and deliver the goods to the customer’s doorstep in what Drizly promises on its website to be 60 minutes or less.
So far, the model has served Drizly well: the six-year-old company is now in over 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada, making it one of the biggest alcohol-delivery services this side of the pond.
The company had already raised $35 million in funding, including a $17 million Series B round in February of 2017. And in July of 2018, Drizly made its first acquisition, buying alcohol-delivery service Buttery, who brought its sophisticated back-end technology to the deal.
Of course, there’s no shortage of competition for Drizly these days. Online alcohol sales hit $1.7 billion in 2017, and Drizly competitors like Saucey and Minibar also work with retailers across different markets to deliver boozy goods to your front door. DRINKS, meanwhile, takes a more B2B approach, working with stores to facilitate direct-to-consumer sales.
With more than two-thirds of the U.S. population living in States where you can’t buy spirits in the grocery store, it’s little wonder this particular sector has grown so much in the last couple years. And with Amazon now involved (in select cities), this sector will likely continue its growth spree as we move into 2019 and beyond.
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