A new company based in Innovation Depot is looking to make a splash in both alcohol delivery and big data.
Dippi, an e-commerce platform, is building out its product, which will bring spirits to customer’s doorsteps, while providing data to alcohol companies. The company uses ID verification systems and personalized driving and training programs to enable companies to get data more instantaneously rather than waiting weeks for a report.
Dippi will officially launch its platform on Oct. 1, but its leaders have been developing the business since April 2021. The company is initially launching in the Birmingham area with plans to expand to other states.
The company recently purchased a Dallas, Texas-based firm, enabling it to have a large universal product code, or UPC database. UPCs are a barcode symbology used for tracking items.
CEO Rashad Grimes said this recent acquisition is crucial for Dippi’s operation as is it allows alcohol companies to know where their product is going, from distributor down to the consumer. Grimes said this will cut down on the wait time for details on alcohol sales trends for manufacturers.
“A distributor no longer has to wait 12 months to see if a product is selling,” he said. “We have customer-specific data on distribution companies’ products.”
Grimes, who has a law education background, has always had a penchant for entrepreneurship. He was pursuing another startup concept when he enrolled in Innovation Depot and has since pivoted to the Dippi platform.
Since joining the Depot, he refined and tuned the product until he found a concept that was solving a problem in the marketplace.
The company has raised $900,000 in a pre-seed investment.
Grimes said no venture capital firms or companies have invested. Nearly all of the funds have come from an estimated 35 angel investors, with the majority of the investors coming from the Birmingham area.
He said the funds will be used to hire staff for all sectors of the company, including drivers, infrastructure, personnel and technology. The company looks to make five to six hires immediately on the back of the raise, he said
Grimes said once the company is off the ground, he will plan another seed round to enable growth statewide, including in Tuscaloosa, Mobile and Montgomery.
He said he plans to quickly expand into other states, as well, eyeing a nationwide platform eight to 12 months post launch.
