Drinkly’s ups national ambition after crowd-funding boost

The Edinburgh-based e-commerce platform has raised more than £250,000 through its latest campaign on Seedrs, which it says will be used to grow its retailer base, build its tech capabilities and put a solid integrated marketing strategy in place, to maximise its visibility and attract new customers.

The company was founded in 2016 by John Robertson to act as an online shop front for specialist local retailers by providing an ‘out of the box’ solution that allows them to sell directly to customers,  delivering chilled beers, wines, spirits and more within an hour.

Sales have grown 400% since and last year marked a major milestone as it expanded into the “untapped” London market, from its Edinburgh and Glasgow base. It now has more than 40 retail partners across central Scotland, London and the north of England, but aims to boost this to 150 by December 2020.

Robertson previously told the drinks business it had plans to roll out its service in eight cities in the UK, including Manchester, Bristol, Leeds and Birmingham.

Backers including BrewDog’s James Watt and Skyscanner’s chief commercial officer Stuart Middleton, but the company has also collaborated with major drinks brands including Heineken, Asahi, and Tito’s Vodka, to bringing new products to market and also gathering invaluable customer insights.

Robertson, who previously worked as an international sales manager of Innis & Gunn Brewing and European sales manager at Kingfisher Beer, after stints at Whyte & Mackay and Scotland’s biggest Independent On-Trade Wholesaler, Wallace Express, said the investment would enable the company to push ahead with its ambitions.

“We’ve set the course and we’re on track to make 2020 the best year yet,” he said.