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Thirstie completes pivot to Enterprise, raising Series ANEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Thirstie announced its Series A round of funding on the heels of signing several major alcohol brand groups to its white label solution. While those brand announcements are under wraps for the time being, this marks a strong pattern of global alcohol conglomerates committing to the Thirstie enterprise solution following the Moët Hennessy announcement last fall. The LVMH partnership was the of its kind, and Thirstie's enterprise platform now powers e-commerce for 25 venerable LVMH brands including Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot, Belvedere and Ardbeg. "Thirstie's innovative e-commerce solution, an industry first, has enabled our brands to maintain control of their image while driving traffic to retail customers and allowing consumers to engage with our iconic Champagne, Wine and Spirits brands in ways they have never been able to before," said Jim Clerkin, President and CEO of Moet Hennessy USA. Following Thirstie's healthy seed round of $3.5 million, there has been significant inbound interest from the investment community leading to the decision to move through to a more significant capital raise. Notable investors are catching on to the fact that Thirstie is the only white label solution for the alcohol industry that provides direct-to-consumer capabilities. Institutional investors include Czar Capital, Balcorp Group, JTK-WT Partners, and several notable investors: Carter Reum, co-founder/CEO of VeeV Spirits (acquired by Luxco) and investor in Lyft, SpaceX and Shake Shack; Amar Varma, co-founder Autonomic (acquired by Ford) and investor in Uber, Slack and Survey Monkey, Hatch Labs (Tinder); Michael Culhane, former CFO of Hudson's Bay Company (Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Ave); and Jason Dacaret, CPO, investor, REAPRA Ventures. "We couldn't be more thrilled with the response frm brands over the last six months wanting to engage with us," said Devaraj Southworth, CEO and co-founder, Thirstie. "Our enterprise solution has already grown our revenues 9x and has improved our operating margins 10x. The word is clearly out and has resulted in heavy interest by current investors, as well as fresh capital from funds, VCs and large family offices wanting to participate in a larger growth round." "We are excited to again participate in the opportunity to invest in Thirstie, more so that they have found product/market fit, and have developed an e-commerce solution to address the complex requirements of the vertical. Consequently, Thirstie has secured long term contracts with some of the largest spirits brands in the world," said Suhel Kothari, general partner of Czar Capital. "Arguably the biggest consideration in deciding where to invest is whether the business is filling a void in the market that has a sizeable growth opportunity. Thirstie has created a solution to a problem that has plagued the alcohol vertical since the rise of e-commerce, and alcohol brands have responded accordingly. Their pivot from consumer to enterprise will be the linchpin to their future success in that it forgoes the cost of customer acquisition while providing value to the brands who are already spending in order to do so," said Carter Reum, co-founder/CEO of VeeV Spirits. The Thirstie API, supported by Thirstie's proprietary nationwide retailer network, allows brands to sell to consumers online for the first time without sending the customer off to a different platform to buy. This important distinction makes it possible for alcohol brands to close the loop on the customer's path to purchase, a first for the industry and a watershed moment in how spirits brands interact with customers. The Thirstie solution works because it embraces the U.S. three-tier system of brands, distributors and retailers rather than looking to circumvent it. A customer that orders on any of the Thirstie-powered sites has his or her order fulfilled by a retailer nearby, keeping the integrity of the three-tier system intact. This solution is coupled with groundbreaking tools like Thirstie's CMO Dashboard, which allows real time access for brands to over 2,000 data points interpreted through customized analytics. The solution becomes a powerful tool in interpreting customer behaviors and desires, and developing new product offerings to follow suit. The tech startup has a robust pipeline of brand groups in cue for integration, as it's currently the only vehicle to offer this direct-to consumer e-commerce option. WEBSITE ABOUT THIRSTIE Thirstie, founded by Devaraj Southworth and Maxim Razmakhin, offers a white label enterprise solution for brands to enable e-commerce. Powering transactions through a robust API and expansive retailer network, the platform also provides brands with transparency into all data, consumer insights analytics and ROI. For more information about Thirstie and markets served, please visit www.Thirstie.com.
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