Each year, Sacramento Business Journal Inno reporter Mark Anderson identifies the top local startups set to make waves in the year ahead. Pair Anything Inc. is one of 11 that made the cut in 2024.
Pair Anything Inc.
Davis-based Pair Anything Inc. launched in 2019 after winning the UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition for Food & Agricultural Innovation.
It started with an artificial intelligence-backed website and a widget for small winery websites to suggest wine pairings. It has since added a growing segment that offers retailers a platform to allow their customers to find wines to match with recipe cards retailers offer their customers either as hard cards or as digital notifications. The recipe cards can be accessed in-store, and they are given as part of delivery and pick-up orders, CEO and founder Christy Serrato said. Consumers can access the wine pairing software using a QR code.
In the fall, Pair Anything got a $100,000 investment from Techstars of Boulder, Colorado, an investor in pre-seed companies globally. Pair Anything will use the money to expand its networks and relationships with retailers, Serrato said.
Pair Anything’s technology platform is in use in one national retail chain, through a partnership with Bentonville, Arkansas-based retail consultant Technology Connections, Serrato said. She declined to name the retail chain.
Pair Anything's relationship with Technology Connections also opens up sponsorship opportunities for wineries in the future, Serrato said.
Pair Anything has three full-time employees and eight total employees working domestically, and it has a team of technologists in India. Serrato declined to disclose the company's revenue.
Serrato is currently entrepreneur in residence at FourthWave, a business accelerator program for female entrepreneurs. Serrato is a 2021 alumna of FourthWave.
In addition to the funding, becoming a Techstars portfolio company gives Pair Anything “access to a worldwide network for unparalleled mentorship and wider opportunities for growth,” she said. Pair Anything was a contestant in the 2020 Sacramento Kings Capitalize contest, a crowdsourced startup competition styled as a March Madness tournament.
