--- title: "Alcohol Wholesalers Group Makes Waves With Drizly Investment" id: "28495" type: "post" slug: "alcohol-wholesalers-group-makes-waves-with-drizly-investment" published_at: "2015-05-18T22:35:39+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T17:51:38+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/05/18/alcohol-wholesalers-group-makes-waves-with-drizly-investment/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/05/18/alcohol-wholesalers-group-makes-waves-with-drizly-investment.md" excerpt: "With its minority stake in Drizly—a startup that’s seen as the “Uber for alcohol”—the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America is taking a proactive stance, rather than a defensive one, on a potentially disruptive technology." taxonomy_category: - "Business Development" taxonomy_post_tag: - "alcohol delivery" - "AssociationsNow" - "Business Development" - "investment" - "Technology" - "trade associations" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Executive Leadership" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Alcohol Wholesalers Group Makes Waves With Drizly Investment There’s more than one way to take on the sharing economy. In recent years the taxi and hospitality industries have taken hard-line approaches to contain encroachment by [Uber](http://associationsnow.com/2014/09/ride-sharing-fight-gets-messy-industry-groups-launch-smear-campaigns/) and [Airbnb](http://associationsnow.com/2014/05/hotel-group-takes-airbnb-short-term-rentals/) on their respective turf. Trade association advocacy efforts against the startups have sometimes had the effect of making the sharing services even more prominent. But not all trade groups have gone on defense against these disruptive industry models. In fact, the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) appears to be taking an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” approach to [the alcohol-delivery startup Drizly (opens in a new tab)](https://drizly.com/) : WSWA is actually investing in the Drizly as part of a funding round. That means the association owns a minority stake in a company that could best be described as the Uber of liquor. While WSWA [chose not to reveal its full stake to The Wall Street Journal (opens in a new tab)](http://www.wsj.com/articles/liquor-distributors-invest-in-tech-firm-to-boost-e-commerce-in-alcohol-1431461864) , it’s substantial enough that the organization has a seat on the company’s board. The deal should come in handy as Drizly faces likely headaches from disparate local laws and regulations of the kind that have given Uber and Airbnb migraines over the years. ### Friend, Not Foe Drizly, an app service that guarantees delivery of beer, wine, or liquor within an hour, is relatively new to alcohol delivery but is already displaying significant reach. Launched in Boston in 2012, the company scored $4.8 million from backers last year in two rounds of funding. It’s expected to do more than $100 million in retail sales in 30 cities by the end of 2015. Currently, Drizly is available in 15 cities, [according to BostInno (opens in a new tab)](http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/05/12/alcohol-delivery-app-drizly-gets-funding-from-wholesalers-group/) . And the company is growing quickly. On Monday, Drizly announced that it had secured a $13 million investment round—on top of prior investments from WSWA and other organizations. One factor that may help Drizly as it gains a foothold is that it integrates suppliers, wholesalers, and local liquor stores into its delivery model. Rather than trying to work around the retail sector’s three-tier distribution system, it directly integrates with it. Other companies, such as [Instacart (opens in a new tab)](http://pando.com/2012/12/11/instacart-stops-selling-alcohol-for-compliance-reasons/) and [Ultra (opens in a new tab)](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/mike-debonis/wp/2014/06/26/d-c-regulators-put-kibosh-on-ultra-booze-delivery-service/) , have run into compliance issues in trying to deliver alcoholic beverages, though those issues are slowly being worked out at the local government level. Drizly, however, appears to have momentum in its favor—along with some big players in its corner. Last year, [the company entered an agreement with MillerCoors (opens in a new tab)](http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2014/12/05/drizlys-partnership-with-millercoors-for-beer-delivery/) to sell the brewer’s products directly to consumers—the first time a major brewing company has been able to do that since the end of Prohibition. WSWA President Craig Wolf noted that the group had analyzed dozens of companies to invest in before deciding on Drizly, telling the *Journal* that it found the “business model to be three-tier compliant and not disruptive but complementary.” If, one day, Amazon decides to compete directly with the liquor store around the corner, WSWA has a competitor already in place. (Drizly press photo) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#alcohol delivery](https://associationsnow.com/tag/alcohol-delivery/) [#Business Development](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business-development/) [#investment](https://associationsnow.com/tag/investment/) [#Technology](https://associationsnow.com/tag/technology/) [#trade associations](https://associationsnow.com/tag/trade-associations/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoPartnerships that Drive Success: ASAE Strategic Partnership AllianceAugust 26, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/08/26/partnerships-that-drive-success-asae-strategic-partnership-alliance/) - [VideoGenerate Leads and Brand Awareness: Master the ASAE MarketplaceJune 18, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/06/18/generate-leads-and-brand-awareness-master-the-asae-marketplace/) - [VideoWilliam Pate on the Importance of Associations for Atlanta’s BusinessSeptember 23, 2024](https://associationsnow.com/2024/09/23/william-pate-on-the-importance-of-associations-for-atlantas-business/) - [ArticleThree Takeaways From #ASAE26August 21, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/08/21/three-takeaways-from-asae26/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2015%2F05%2F18%2Falcohol-wholesalers-group-makes-waves-with-drizly-investment%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !