The beer industry is getting its first taste of e-commerce, thanks to Boston-born alcohol delivery startup Drizly.
The company has inked a deal with Chicago-based beer brand MillerCoors to offer free delivery service in four major markets: Boston, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Although newsworthy in itself, what makes the partnership historic is that it marks "the first time a major American brewer has teamed up with an e-commerce partner to sell its beer online," according to the Wall Street Journal.
MillerCoors paid Drizly to develop an online store for the company, so consumers could buy 12- and 24-packs of Miller Lite and have it delivered by local retailers to their home. The deal comes roughly three months after Drizly announced the launch of its companion e-commerce website — the startup making ordering beer, wine and liquor from your desktop as easily as it can be done from a smartphone.
Drizly, founded in 2012 by Boston College alumni Nick Rellas and Justin Robinson, has gained quick traction this year, expanding to the likes of Chicago, Denver, New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. And, if this partnership with MillerCoors was any indication, the momentum is only going to continue to build. Shared Mikael Mossberg, co-founder and CEO of Distiller, a website for whiskey enthusiasts, with the Wall Street Journal:
We get people's mouths watering for a whiskey, but, until now, we had no way to put the product in people's hands. This is something that's going to be remarkable for users.
Drizly closed a $2.5 million seed round in May, which folded into the initial $2.25 million seed round raised in January.
Image via Drizly
