Crurated, the London-based membership wine community, announced this month that the company has raised US$7.2 million from a group of private investors to further evolve its technology platform, expand producer partnerships beyond France and Italy, and increase overall market share across the globe.
“The past year has been both innovative and successful for our entire team and the producers we’ve partnered with,” said Alfonso de Gaetano, founder of Crurated. “In addition to becoming the first wine community to offer fractional barrel sales backed by NFT technology, we signed an exclusive distribution deal with Charles Lachaux, grew our roster of producers to more than 60, and have attracted a younger demographic of oenophiles onto the platform.”
Crurated reports that 70% of its member base is below the age of 45. With 35% of those members under the age of 35, younger than the majority of wine buyers which skews at 45+.
The team believes that Crurated’s direct partnerships with the world’s top wine producers, innovative approach to how wine is purchased on the platform — traditional lot purchases/auctions and fractional barrel sales — as well as the use of NFTs to validate a wine’s authenticity is helping to increase the interest in wine with a younger demographic.
According to the company, it has been performing well in terms of revenue and membership growth. Its revenues were up 214% in the first half of year two vs. the first half of year one, while membership grew by 180% in the first half of year 2 compared with the same period of first year, and is up 400% year to date.
Launched in 2021 with an emphasis on France and Italy, Crurated is a membership-based wine community designed to connect connoisseurs with world-class producers. It has a team of specialists providing personalized services and authentic experiences, while Crurated’s seamless logistics service guarantees quality and provenance thanks to secure wine cellar storage and innovative blockchain technology.
