Milwaukee startup Bright Cellars has raised a new round of funding to change the way wine lovers shop for and discover new wines.
Bright Cellars announced that it has raised an $8.5 million Series A round led by Revolution Ventures, a well-known Washington, D.C.-based venture firm led by AOL co-founder Steve Case. Bright Cellars' existing investor CSA Partners also participated in the round.
The new funding comes after Bright Cellars raised $2.8 million last year from investors including Cream City Venture Capital, the early-stage venture arm of Northwestern Mutual, and Cleveland Avenue, a food-focused venture fund from former McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson. Bright Cellars has now raised more than $13 million to date.
Founded in 2015, Bright Cellars delivers wine to your door based on a machine-learning algorithm that picks brands you’re likely to enjoy. Launched by MIT grads Richard Yau and Joe Laurendi, Bright Cellars went through the gener8tor accelerator program in 2015 and relocated to Milwaukee after finishing the program.
"Because of our personalization aspect, we have the opportunity to really understand what our members want and why they want it," Yau said in an interview. "Now our focus is how do we create the best experience possible and how do we really understand our customer better."
The startup has grown to over 40 employees. Bright Cellars said it will use the funding to improve its product and grow its team. It plans to add around 10 new employees in the next six months.
Bright Cellars is the second investment Revolution has made in a Wisconsin startup in the last four months. Last fall Revolution's Rise of the Rest fund led Madison weather data startup Understory's $7.5 million round.
“Wine is a massive market that has yet to be disrupted by data and technology,” Clara Sieg, Partner at Revolution Ventures, said in a statement. “Bright Cellars unique ability to integrate online and offline experiences in the consumer category gives Richard and his team data insights that will fundamentally change the way consumers shop and experience wine.”
