Wine companies get funding boost

London based wine company The Humble Grape has secured funding to open a chain of tech focused wine bars with an aim to become the Starbucks of the wine world.James Dawson started his company in 2009 importing mostly organic and biodynamic wines. he then started selling to the on-trade and running pop-up wine events. The first wine bar is set to open in Shoreditch, London and will be rolled out to 5 more sites with a view to opening 60 in the next 6 years. Dawson raised £350,00 through Seedrs and a further £125,000 from venture capital.

Another company to get a boost from funding is wine and food travel website Winerist who has secured funding through Booking.com, a wine industry investor and a city investor. The site aims to boost the number of experiences it offers from 500 currently to 5,000 in the next 6 months according to co-founder Diana Isac. It is also looking to partner with wine merchants to help sell the wines offered from vineyards people have visited during their wine tour. Winerist has ambitions to become the Trip Advisor and Booking.com for the food and wine traveller.