Drizly Digs Up $13M to Fuel Expansion of Alcohol-Delivery App

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking.

Boston alcohol-delivery startup Drizly has raised $13 million in Series A financing from investors including Polaris Partners, First Beverage Group, Suffolk Equity Partners, and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America.

Drizly makes a mobile app that lets users order beer, wine, and liquor from alcohol retailers and have it delivered to their door. The company is making moves to take the lead in a huge—and hugely competitive—market that combines on-demand delivery, e-commerce, and the regulatory hurdles that come with delivering booze in new markets.

In the past year, Drizly has expanded from two cities to 15, and its staff has grown from three to 42, said CEO and co-founder Nick Rellas in a statement. The company plans to use the new money to continue its expansion nationwide.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.