Category: Wine Technology

Vivino Raises $155 Million in Series D Funding

Vivino, the world’s most downloaded mobile wine app and largest online wine marketplace closed (this week) a $155m Series D funding round led by Swedish based investment firm Kinnevik with Sprints Capital accompanying as a new investor. Additional participants include GP Bullhound and existing early-stage investor Creandum. This latest round brings Vivino’s total funds raised to date to $221 million and includes a mix of primary and secondary investment.

Vivino currently boasts a community of 50 million wine enthusiasts, who turn to the platform for its personalized recommendations, unbiased rating system, and expansive selection of wines from more than 700 marketplace partners worldwide. The new capital will enable Vivino to improve its core technology and artificial intelligence platform to create better and more personalized recommendations for Vivino users. The company will also deepen its focus on select markets with the greatest potential for growth, including the US, Germany, the UK, Italy, Japan, and Portugal.

“This is a testament to the remarkable work that our teams around the globe have done to build an extraordinary business,” said Heini Zachariassen, Vivino’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “This round has raised important capital for our rapidly growing company and drawn some exceptional new leaders to our board. The funding will enable us to continue to build on our core strengths, expand industry partnerships drawing more merchants and wineries to our marketplace, and support our continued global growth.”

Alcohol e-commerce sales worldwide have grown immensely, and it is estimated that by 2024, they will exceed $40 billion. Zachariassen credits the company’s growth to this continued shift in consumer behavior. “Our user retention rates are high, and we’re seeing a steady conversion of app users to wine buyers. That’s a good move in the right direction. By creating more value for our users, we also create more value for the company and industry at large.”

Since its Series C raise in February 2018, led by Vivino’s current board chairman, Christophe Navarre and former CEO and Chairman of Moët Hennessy, Vivino has increased its user base from 29 million to 50 million and has significantly grown its marketplace business, which connects wineries and wine merchants to its community. The company has posted a 100% annual growth rate for the last seven years and a 103% increase in year-over-year sales in 2020.

#vivino #vivinonews #winenews #ecommerce #winemarketing #winesales #consumerbehavior #AI #mobleapp #economics #winebusiness #winelovers #winelover #wine #wineapp #vivinoapp #winetrends #winetechnology

Wine Australia is launching a new global 24/7 virtual platform

Wine Australia is launching an (always-on) 24/7 virtual platform “Australian Wine Connect” in March which will bring the global wine community together to experience and explore Australia’s wine scene.

The interactive platform will be a go-to resource for Australian wine over the next twelve months. Featuring wineries from across 65 regions; connecting winemakers, buyers, importers, distributors, media, educators and more; and offering a diverse program of engaging events and experiences.

Australian Wine Connect will create a bold new world of opportunities for Australian wineries to promote their products across the UK, Europe, the US, Canada and Asian markets.

Wine Australia chief executive officer Andreas Clark said, “We’re proud to bring this same spirit of innovation to the way we do business and have been working hard to develop a valuable opportunity for Australian wineries to continue marketing and selling their wines overseas this year”.

“Australian Wine Connect has been designed to offer similar benefits to an international trade show, however it also enables wineries to reach and engage with multiple markets across the globe and it will be live and offering various virtual business opportunities for a full twelve months,” he said.

Clark said it will allow buyers from across the world to network and meet producers, discover new wines, link up with distributors and enable sales conversations. It will also offer ongoing live thought-leadership sessions, tasting sessions, variety and regional explorations to showcase the people, places and processes that make Australian wine unique.

Australian Wine Connect will go live on 31 March 2021 and registrations for the virtual showcase are now open to Australian wineries. Eligible wineries can apply for the Wine Export Grant to help cover the cost of participation.

The Australian wine community is renowned for its creativity in the pursuit of creating the most diverse and distinctive wines in the world.

The multi-faceted platform will host virtual events and collaboration tools to help wineries stay up to date in market and will promote Australian wine in a new and exciting way to raise awareness and increase demand amongst an international trade audience.

For further details, click here

IWSR announces acquisition of Wine Intelligence

IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, the leading authority on the worldwide beverage alcohol industry, today announced the acquisition of London-based Wine Intelligence, the top global experts on wine consumer research and insights. The combined offering provides the industry with robust insight into consumption trends, consumer behavior and growth opportunities for the global beverage alcohol sector.

Founded in 2002, Wine Intelligence conducts projects on behalf of wine businesses in more than 35 wine markets. This acquisition enables the IWSR and Wine Intelligence teams to build a world-class consumer behavior division focused exclusively on the global beverage alcohol industry.

“As Covid-19 reshapes consumer behavior and beverage alcohol drinking occasions, industry stakeholders are looking for a deeper understanding of the consumer attitudes driving the market,” remarks Mark Meek, CEO of IWSR. “Our vision is shaped by our clients, and this acquisition is a tremendous opportunity for us to expand on our existing offerings and work with the Wine Intelligence team to provide the industry with access to comprehensive consumer insight across all categories of the drinks industry, including beer, wine, spirits and the ready-to-drink sector.”

This acquisition follows a successful decade-long relationship between IWSR and Wine Intelligence. Recent collaborations include the IWSR Covid-19 Consumer Tracker, an in-depth consumer sentiment research report series tracking the on-going impact of Covid-19 on the consumption of and attitude to beverage alcohol over an 18-month period.

“We are delighted to join the IWSR family after nearly 10 years of our organizations partnering on behalf of our client base,” says Lulie Halstead, CEO of Wine Intelligence. “I share Mark’s vision of us building a world-class and comprehensive offering of data and consumer insights to support the global beverage alcohol sectors, which we are uniquely positioned to do.”

About the IWSR

The IWSR is the leading source of data and intelligence on the alcoholic beverage market. The IWSR’s database, essential to the industry, quantifies the global market of wine, spirits, beer, cider, and RTDs (ready-to-drink) by volume and value in 160 countries, and provides insight into short- and long-term trends, including five-year volume and value forecasts. The IWSR tracks overall consumption and trends at brand, price segment and category level. Our data is used by the major international wine, spirits and beer companies, as well as financial and alcoholic beverage market suppliers. The IWSR’s unique methodology allows us to get closer to what is actually consumed and better understand how markets work. The IWSR boasts a team of global analysts, each of whom is equipped with local market expertise and an expansive network of on-the-ground industry contacts. Our analysts meet and speak with their industry contacts throughout the year in order to capture local insight, key market trends, and the ‘why’ behind the numbers. For more information about the IWSR, please visit www.theiwsr.com

About Wine Intelligence

Wine Intelligence is the global leader in wine consumer research and insights. Founded in 2002, we now conduct projects on behalf of wine businesses in more than 35 wine markets. With a team made up of wine industry and research specialists, we offer a broad range of research, insights and strategy services to help wine businesses make better and more profitable business decisions.

Women in Wine Talks with Kate Dingwall, Forbes: How Technology is Evolving and Disrupting the Wine World – Part 1

On November 26th we had the pleasure of listening to Kate Dingwall, Wine Writer, Sommelier speak on a trending topic “How Technology is Evolving and Disrupting the Wine World”.

This was another sold-out event for “Women in Wine Talks” bringing over one hundred global wine lovers, marketers, agents, sommeliers, journalists and other wine trade together.

Kate highlighted and did a deep dive into how the digital world is changing the industry, from investing to e-commerce, to virtual tastings, and speak to the downsides and upsides of technology infiltrating the wine world. Her highlights included:

  • Massive increase in online ordering
  • Change in distribution channels
  • Deployment of DTC

Kate Dingwall
Kate is a wine and spirits writer and a WSET-trained sommelier, a regular contributor at Forbes, and her work is frequently featured in various trade and lifestyle publications. Kate is also the former editor of FLARE Magazine.
Outside of writing, she completed her Masters of Brand Management with a focus on the “fine wine industry” and has acted as a marketing consultant for a number of spirits and hospitality brands in New York.

We will be posting the Webinar sometime next week.

ZACHYS ANNOUNCES WORLD RECORD-BREAKING DEBUT EUROPEAN AUCTION OF WINES FROM THE CELLAR OF ENOTECA PINCHORRI TOTALLING £3.2 MILLION

After decades of auctions in New York and Hong Kong, the world’s leading wine auction house, Zachys, hosted its first European auction in London via livestream, on 12 September 2020. In a great success by any measure, the auction was sold out and realized £3,153,952. The wines and aquavit in the auction were from the legendary cellar of three-Michelin-star Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Italy. The sale included Coche-Dury, Rouget, Dujac, Ramonet, Leflaive, Jayer, Liger-Belair, DRC, the First Growths, Pétrus back to the 1920s, Le Pin, Yquem back to the 1920s, Masseto, Ornellaia, Krug, Chave, an amazing collection of Italian aquavit in beautiful hand-blown Murano glass, all curated by the restaurant’s owner Giorgio Pinchiorri. The auction was live-streamed from Zachys’ home office in New York, by Zachys President Jeff Zacharia and Head of Auction Sales Charles Antin, while bidders logged in from home, along with intimate get-togethers in Stockholm, Geneva, Beijing and at Cabotte Wine Bar and Restaurant in London. Bidders from 20 countries, including the UK, US, UAE, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Switzerland, Sweden and Monaco, all vied to take home a piece of vinous history. The 864-lot auction featured 2,507 large formats including nebuchadnezzars, methuselahs, jeroboams, magnums and was 100% sold. 26% of the auction, or 226 of the lots, set new World Records, and an astonishing 55% of the lots set European Records, despite this being Zachys first auction in the UK. The top World Records include:

• A single magnum of 1979 Jayer Richebourg for £47,120

• A single magnum of 1990 Roumier Musigny for £47,120

• A single imperial of 2009 Pétrus for £42,160

• A single bottle of 1985 Jayer Richebourg for £34,720

• A single methuselah of 1981 DRC RSV for £29,760 Zachys sold over £115 million worth of wine at auction and retail in 2019.

In March 2020, as Covid-19 forced bidders to stay at home, Zachys quickly transformed into a digital business and was the first major auction house to offer its live auctions fully online, allowing clients to bid from anywhere globally. Despite COVID-19, Zachys has had its busiest first half-year ever, overreaching projections with over £34 million in year-to-date auction sales. Since the start of the pandemic, all live auctions have taken place through Zachys’ “Studio Sales” live-streamed, sometimes with over 150 people in the “virtual room,” watching the auctioneer from New York. Zachys even carried out a Hong Kong sale on EST, which took place 10pm-4am. Zachys’ global team hosts now-famous bidding parties, where potential buyers in Beijing, Shanghai, Stockholm, London, Hong Kong, or elsewhere can get together in small groups, enjoy a glass of Burgundy, some fine dining, and bid in real-time. The “Studio Sales” have made Zachys auctions more accessible as bidders are no longer required to attend in person. Zachys has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Napa, Washington DC, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Stockholm and Paris. London, the historic centre of wine buying and trading worldwide, was the obvious choice for Zachys’ new European hub. Zachys’ presence in the UK capital is a key piece in a global expansion strategy that ensures the company’s global clientele will receive the same level of service regardless of time zone. Christy Erickson, Head of Europe, Zachys said: “We’re delighted with the results of our European debut. We were coming into the auction against a backdrop of global uncertainty due to the ongoing pandemic, but since wine auction sales in 2020 thus far have exceeded our January projections, we decided to forge ahead. And we’re glad we did: this auction shows that the fine-wine auction industry is still booming, and our buyers’ appetite for quality shows no sign of slowing. We’re thrilled to have set a 226 World Records and achieve over double our pre-auction estimate for this collection. We can now look forward to three more sales in New York and Hong Kong in September, three auctions in New York in October, and then we’re back in November for our second sale in London.’’ In addition to its upcoming auctions in New York and Hong Kong, Zachys will follow up the London auction with a multi-vendor sale in the city in November 2020. Visit the auction calendar here: http://www.zachys.com/auctions.