Wine-by-the-glass subscription service Vinebox raises $5.9 million
One#nbsp;SF startup wants you to#nbsp;get home from a#nbsp;day at#nbsp;work and polish off a#nbsp;bottle of#nbsp;wine by#nbsp;yourself.
Vinebox isn’t really trying to#nbsp;get you wasted though, these bottles are cute and tiny. The small startup is#nbsp;hoping that they can get consumers into the idea of#nbsp;buying premium quality wine-by-the-glass and they’ve convinced investors there’s something behind this concept as#nbsp;well.
The team has just closed a $#nbsp;5.9 million round of#nbsp;funding led by#nbsp;Harbinger Ventures.
Co-founders Rachel Vodofsky and Matt Dukes were both corporate lawyers several years ago with a#nbsp;taste for good wine, but when Dukes decided to#nbsp;move to#nbsp;France and dig deeper into his burgeoning interest in#nbsp;wineries, the founders set off to#nbsp;see how they could start a#nbsp;consumer business with wine discovery at#nbsp;its heart.
The Y#nbsp;Combinator-backed company began their mission with a#nbsp;quarterly and annual subscription service that set people up#nbsp;with new types of#nbsp;single-serve wine on#nbsp;a#nbsp;rolling basis (as#nbsp;well as#nbsp;a#nbsp;wonderful-sounding wine advent calendar) with the ultimate goal of#nbsp;exposing wine lovers to#nbsp;small-lot wineries they wouldn’t have otherwise come across. The 100ml bottles look more like something you would find in#nbsp;a#nbsp;laboratory than a#nbsp;liquor store.
A#nbsp;quarterly subscription is $#nbsp;78 per quarter and includes 9 wine samples with $#nbsp;15 off purchases of#nbsp;full-sized bottle.
A#nbsp;big drive of#nbsp;the subscription is#nbsp;helping members to#nbsp;discover new favorites. Subscription members can get discounts on#nbsp;full bottles if#nbsp;they stumble upon something that piques their interest. Vinebox says they’ve shipped one million glasses of#nbsp;wine so#nbsp;far.
The company is#nbsp;also now working on#nbsp;multi-packs of#nbsp;their single-serve bottles as#nbsp;they aim to#nbsp;shift consumer habits. With the Usual brand, Vinebox sells what are essentially half-bottles in#nbsp;6, 12, and 24-packs. Right now The pricing is#nbsp;similarly premium (a#nbsp;12-pack is $#nbsp;96), but Dukes says that they’re trying to#nbsp;reshape the attitudes toward single-serve wine.
"The biggest mold that we#nbsp;wanted to#nbsp;break when we#nbsp;were coming into this was the little bottles of#nbsp;wine you get on#nbsp;the airplane," Dukes says. "It comes in#nbsp;the little plastic bottles and you just immediately associate with lesser quality, cheaper wine."
Vinebox is#nbsp;selling a#nbsp;red blend from Sonoma County and a#nbsp;rosé from Santa Barbara under the Usual brand first, but says that they’ve gotten a#nbsp;lot of#nbsp;great customer feedback and can let that drive the direction for what types of#nbsp;wine they move to#nbsp;add next.
With this new bout of#nbsp;funding, the group is#nbsp;looking to#nbsp;grow its team and further scale their online distribution as#nbsp;they hope to#nbsp;get their single-serve bottles into more people’s hands.