Wine Innovator Club W Strips Self-Doubt from Wine Selection Introducing Variety of Small-Lot Wines from $13/Bottle
22 Sep 2014 --- Club W, the groundbreaking wine company leading the direct-to-consumer revolution, announced $9.5 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The investment will fund product development, further integration of the company's supply chain and expanded marketing initiatives.
In 2011, Club W was created with the goal of conveniently delivering great wine at good prices, while stripping pretense from wine selection. Founders Xander Oxman, Geoffrey McFarlane and Brian Smith built a distribution platform that bypasses several layers of middlemen in the regulated three-tiered system separating producers, distributors and retailers enabling Club W to deliver higher quality wines at lower prices. Club W members receive personalized recommendations and choices directly from great vineyards from $13 a bottle. Club W also innovated through a focus on sustainably grown grapes and carbon minimizing production, logistics and distribution practices; its proprietary global supply chain ranks among the industry's most ecological.
"After watching venture backed wine companies come and go, the question is 'why these guys?'" said Kent Bennett, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. "BVP invested because Club W's approach is fundamentally different: They removed self-doubt from wine purchasing and solved the discovery and curation issue for the average wine drinker. Much as BlueApron eliminates the stress of what to make for dinner, Club W banishes the anxiety around what to pour."
Club W recently completed a transition from e-commerce platform for purchasing and fulfilling wine to a global winery that produces every bottle, launching more than 80 wines this year. Chief Wine Officer Brian Smith explains, "To create high-quality, small lot wines at our $13 price, we went deeper into the winemaking process. Now we get our hands dirty in the vineyards." Ensuring both quality and diversity, Club W partners with well-regarded craft winemakers from around the globe (Smith calls them "our heroes in the wine world") to create wines exclusively for Club W members.
"Club W promises the best possible wines at the best possible price. To achieve this we rely on the carefully constructed efficiencies of a large scale operation that trumps traditional channels and touches the wine at every stage of the process," says Club W CEO Xander Oxman. "The investment from Bessemer Venture Partners validates our vertical integration while giving us the funds to build our operation and reach our goals."
