‘Despite being one of the world’s largest industries, alcohol distribution is stuck in the dark ages,’ CEO Eoin Bara said.
Dublin-based Tipple has raised $4m in a seed-funding round to modernise the alcohol industry’s distribution process. The round was led by Quadri Ventures, a London and New York-based firm which backs B2B infrastructure players, and saw participation from Form Ventures and 7percent Ventures.
Founded by former AWS engineer turned gin distiller turned tech entrepreneur Eoin Bara, the start-up offers a scalable digital platform that aims to improve efficiency and unlock higher revenues for the €2.5trn alcohol industry.
The seed funding will support the company’s international expansion and deepen its technical integrations as it targets 20pc of alcohol transactions globally.
Bara said that the alcohol industry still relies on emails, phone calls and spreadsheets. “I watched bars struggle to understand their margins, suppliers drown in admin for months and brands operate completely blind to where their products were actually selling.” He discovered the issues after trying to distribute his own gin line, Mór Irish Gin, internationally.
“When you’ve actually lived the problem, you understand it differently,” Bara explained. “Despite being one of the world’s largest industries, alcohol distribution is stuck in the dark ages.”
The alcohol market spans production, distribution and retail across more than 190 countries. Despite this, the industry is reliant on fragmented systems, opaque data, outdated supply-chain logistics and inefficient payment systems that burden suppliers, distributors and retailers, the company said.
“Tipple is here to change that. We’re unifying the ecosystem, from DTC (direct-to-consumer) and B2B to backend infrastructure, so everyone from global suppliers, national distributors and local bars can operate smarter and faster,” Bara said.
Tipple is already working with more than 500 brands, including top global drinks companies Diageo and Brown-Forman, and disruptive brands such as AU Vodka.
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