‘Seamless For Booze’ Start-up Gets 5-Star Reviews And $2.25 MM Seed Capital
By Amisha Sharma
Ever wish that Seamless had a wine for your next meal, a handle for your friend’s party in an hour, or a 6-pack you could order while you watch the game? Say hello to Drizly, a free alcohol delivery iPhone app currently operating in Boston and NYC that allows millions of metropolitans aged 21 and up to order alcohol directly to their doorstep.
Founded in July 2012 by three Boston College students, Drizly’s fledging service boasts speedy 30–60 minute delivery and the ability to search by name for your liquor, beer, or wine of choice, all from a streamlined and simple interface soon to be optimized for Android devices as well as iOS.
The Drizly experience is startlingly simple for participating stores and customers: licensed liquor stores who wish to avail of Drizly’s middleman services pay a flat $5 monthly fee, while customers sign up for free with credit card information to enable swift payment. Type any brand of booze or random wine variety in Drizly’s internal search, and the app will zero in on the nearest partner stores carrying it. After you place your order and tap to pay, the partner store’s delivery driver will shortly arrive at your doorstep. You can even watch your order travel to your residence with the help of the nifty ‘Order Tracking’ feature. Some would call it magical.
Intrepid underclassmen, by now you’re probably wondering if this is a gift from Dionysus, a way to avoid getting ID’d? Alas, it is not.
Delivery drivers card customers at their doors by electronically scanning IDs with Drizly’s advanced forensic ID-verification technology (i.e. hi-tech scanners), courtesy of Mident Solutions. Company CEO Nick Rellas admits that the scanners are far from foolproof, and that the app may entice underage drinkers into trying their hand at bamboozling them. To those considering it, a word of caution: delivery drivers reserve the right to reject your ID and cancel your order at the slightest suspicion. Drizly will then process a refund for your order, but will automatically deduct a $20 ‘restocking fee.’
In the wake of positive user reviews on the Apple App Store and Twitter, the start-up plans to expand to other major cities besides Boston and New York over the next six months. To fund growth, Drizly recently raised $2.25 million in seed funding from big-name investors such as Atlas Venture, Fairhaven Capital and other major firms. In the burgeoning market for online delivery orders, this “Amazon for alcohol” seems poised for start-up success.
