Denmark-born Vivino, which says its the world’s most downloaded mobile wine app and largest online wine marketplace, has closed a $155 million Series D funding round – for development of its product and growing its reach – led by Swedish based investment firm Kinnevik with Sprints Capital accompanying as a new investor.
“Addressing a massive market, Vivino has claimed the position as the go-to wine utility for consumers all over the world. They have created a strong community with network effects, and have rich data insights with 1.5 billion scanned wines since inception,” Kinnevik’s CEO Georgi Ganev said in a statement.
Additional participants in the investment round 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.
“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,” said Heini Zachariassen, Vivino’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
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 behaviour.
Since its Series C raise in February 2018 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.
