Tipple secures €4m to improve industry’s digitalisation
Digital distribution platform Tipple has raised €4 million (US$4.7m) in seed funding to continue its mission to make the spirits industry more tech-efficient.
Quadri Ventures led the seed funding, with participation from Form Ventures and 7percent Ventures.
Eoin Bara founded Tipple after experiencing cross-border distribution challenges while building his gin brand Mór Irish Gin.
The money will allow Tipple to expand further internationally and strengthen its technical integrations as the company works to modernise the alcohol sector.
“I watched bars struggle to understand their margins, suppliers drowning in admin for months, and brands operating completely blind to where their products were actually selling,” said Bara. “Despite being one of the world’s largest industries, alcohol distribution is stuck in the dark ages.”
Through Tipple, Bara is working to make the global spirits industry less reliant on manual processes and what he calls ‘opaque data’.
Tipple aims to offer a scalable, tech-first platform to create more transparency, efficiency and trust for all stakeholders.
Bara hopes to facilitate one in five transactions in the industry via Tipple’s platform.
He added: “When you’ve actually lived the problem, you understand it differently.
“Tipple isn’t just building a feature; we’re building the foundational rails for an industry that’s ready for transformation.
“Bars are blind to margin, suppliers chase invoices, and brands lack sell-through data.
“Tipple is here to change that. We’re unifying the ecosystem, from DTC [direct to consumer] and B2B [business to business] to backend infrastructure, so everyone from global suppliers, national distributors, and local bars can operate smarter and faster.”
Today, Tipple’s platform is used by more than 500 brands, including three of the world’s top 10 alcohol brands – including Diageo – as well as fast-growing brands like Au Vodka.
Andrew Drylie, principal at Quadri Ventures, said: “Tipple is tackling one of the largest problems in one of the world’s largest, yet most antiquated industries.
“Success can only be achieved through a deep level of domain expertise. The Tipple team possesses a blend of technical and market knowledge that is hard to come by. We are confident that Tipple has the potential to become the infrastructure standard for the global alcohol supply chain.”
In July last year, Tipple made its services available in the US.
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