Drizly has rolled out a new program to support historically underrepresented groups in the beverage alcohol industry.
The Boston-based beverage alcohol e-commerce business, which is owned by Uber, announced its Sip with Purpose initiative earlier this month. Drizly has committed funds, resources and its own platform to drive growth in brands owned by people from a range a backgrounds, including women and people who are Black, Hispanic, Latinx, LGBTQIA, AAPI (Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders) or Native-American.
“Despite many great efforts over the last few years, there are barriers still faced by members of historically underrepresented groups building and growing brands in the beverage alcohol industry. This initiative aims to help break down those barriers,” Cathy Lewenberg, Drizly’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “We know consumers are increasingly conscious of the type of brands they purchase and support. The demand is there for these brands to continue to scale.”
Drizly has launched a new Brand Accelerator Program and is accepting applications until Sept. 12. Three companies will be chosen to complete training sessions with industry partners and the Drizly leadership team, receive introductions to top retailers and distributors in their target expansion markets and other mentorship opportunities.
Lewenberg said Drizly would also provide each of the companies with nearly $1 million in free advertising on its platform and access to its data product for business insights.
To qualify for this program, one or more owners of the company must identify as a member of a historically underrepresented group and hold at least 50% ownership. The company must also be based in the U.S. and should not already have actively managed accounts on Drizly before.
Drizly has also created a hub on its platform for consumers to shop brands owned by underrepresented founders. In 2020, Drizly started allowing consumers to search for these companies and began affinity month programming to spotlight underrepresented founders.
Drizly was acquired by Uber at the beginning of 2021 for $1.1 billion and has its headquarters in the Back Bay.
