Uber is acquiring alcohol delivery startup Drizly, in a deal worth $1.1 billion.
Drizly is the nation’s leading alcohol delivery service, operating in over 1,400 cities around the country. The company’s reach is an impressive accomplishment given the patchwork of alcohol laws and regulations among various states.
Uber sees an opportunity to round out its food delivery service, offering the full dining experience in-home.
“Wherever you want to go and whatever you need to get, our goal at Uber is to make people’s lives a little bit easier. That’s why we’ve been branching into new categories like groceries, prescriptions and, now, alcohol. Cory and his amazing team have built Drizly into an incredible success story, profitably growing gross bookings more than 300 percent year-over-year. By bringing Drizly into the Uber family, we can accelerate that trajectory by exposing Drizly to the Uber audience and expanding its geographic presence into our global footprint in the years ahead,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
“Drizly has spent the last 8 years building the infrastructure, technology, and partnerships to bring the consumer a shopping experience they deserve. It’s a proud day for the Drizly team as we recognize what we’ve accomplished to date but also with the humility that much remains to be done to fulfill our vision. With this in mind, we are thrilled to join a world-class Uber team whose platform will accelerate Drizly on its mission to be there when it matters—committed to life’s moments and the people who create them,” said Drizly co-founder and CEO Cory Rellas.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021.