Entrepreneur raises £1m for online wine store
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A 29-year-old entrepreneur raised £1m in a crowdfunding drive hoping to build the world’s biggest wine store online.
Ben Revell, CEO of Winebuyers.com, hoped to raise £525,000 in an equity crowdfunding drive and now has plans to expand the business to Oxford Street.
He spent £380,000 developing the site Winebuyers.com which connects wine merchants and producers from around the world with consumers.
The site charges a monthly fee of up to £100 and it has already signed up 178 merchants and producers from up to 40 countries such as Mexico, Madagascar, Japan, Andorra, Luxembourg and Thailand.
In addition to these countries, 3,000 wine shops and vineyard owners have expressed their intention to join.
Revell said: “Vineyards have the inclination to sell online, but they don’t have the time or resources. The cost of building their own websites is high, and promoting them is very expensive. I can’t believe someone hadn’t done it already.
“This is where the industry is going, where ecommerce is going. It just seems like a natural progression and we want to get there first.”
Winebuyers.com’s prices range from £5 to £50,000.
