Flaviar Acquires Speakeasy, Surpassing $100 Million in BevAlc Online Sales This Year

Flaviar, Inc., global e-commerce leader BevAlc, acquires leading U.S. e-commerce provider BevAlc, Speakeasy Co. to strengthen its B2B offering. The company will process over half a million orders this year, achieving 9-figure gross revenue in the U.S. and Europe, and plans to expand its e-commerce offering to more markets.

New York, NY, San Diego, CA (September 10, 2024) – Flaviar, Inc. announces the acquisition of Speakeasy Co. in a cash and stock transaction. The Speakeasy team will continue to operate its unique agency and fulfillment services, which will be integrated into Flaviar Checkout and complement Flaviar’s comprehensive B2B offerings, including Flaviar Ads, a digital advertising network, and Flaviar Insights, a commerce data product.

Founded in 2012, Flaviar has positioned itself uniquely in the rapidly growing online alcoholic beverage (BevAlc) category, delivering value to consumers, retailers and brands through complementary consumer and trade-facing businesses. Over the past 24 months, Flaviar has already announced the acquisitions of Barcart (now Flaviar Checkout) and Wine-Searcher, as well as a partnership with Shopify, bringing new services and global reach to hundreds of brand clients, including 14 of the 15 largest BevAlc companies in the world.

Meanwhile, Speakeasy, founded in 2015, has built a reputation for its ability to create advanced e-commerce fulfillment experiences for BevAlc brands through the company’s unique fulfillment model. Supporting over 250 partners on its platform, the company has also proven its ability to strengthen BevAlc brands online through its diverse performance marketing service offerings.

Flaviar co-founder and CEO Jugoslav Petkovic said the merger was “a major step in further strengthening our leading position in the global BevAlc e-commerce market.”

He said, “By combining our offerings under the Flaviar Checkout umbrella, brand partners will no longer be forced to choose between the different routes to market that each company has previously offered in the U.S. While our offering is global, we have a special focus on delivering innovative services to BevAlc brands in the U.S. while promoting three-tier compliance through our partnerships with distributors and hundreds of retailers in our fulfillment network.”

Initially focused on supporting craft spirits brands, Speakeasy’s advanced consulting and agency services have recently attracted large clients looking for a one-stop shop, including Tesla with its tequila, beer and mezcal projects, WhistlePig and Constellation.

“E-commerce has room to grow exponentially in the BevAlc industry, and we have established ourselves as leaders in this space. Combined with Flaviar’s business solutions, we will be able to equip our partners with the tools they need to grow, perfectly complementing our long-term initiatives to scale direct e-commerce for alcoholic beverage brands,” said Josh Jacobs, co-founder and CEO of Speakeasy Co. “We look forward to seeing the impact our combined toolset will have on our organizations’ stakeholders.”

The merger adds significant new capabilities to Flaviar’s existing business units. Both consumers and brand partners will immediately benefit from faster delivery and lower shipping costs, as well as access to value-added services such as engraving, branded incorporation, custom packaging and other ways brands can create unique experiences for their customers.

“Both companies have a very strong focus on customer satisfaction and success, but also have very similar origin stories, core company values, and technology stacks that are quite unique,” ​​said Michael Bowen, co-founder and COO of Speakeasy. “By combining our efforts to provide more innovative solutions and technologies, we will increase efficiency, drive growth, and ensure that our 600 brand partners remain competitive in the changing digital landscape.”

“As the definitive e-commerce leader in the U.S. for BevAlc, with nine-figure annual sales, we look forward to expanding our e-commerce, advertising and data offerings to reach the hundreds of millions of consumers in over 120 countries who currently visit our properties but are unable to place an order,” added Mr. Petkovic. “We are well on our way to achieving our goal of becoming a multi-billion dollar global BevAlc player.”

About Flaviar, Inc.

Flaviar delivers on its mission of “Bringing Good Spirits To Life” through an integrated ecosystem of consumer and business-facing products and services. Through its leading consumer marketplaces, Flaviar.com and Caskers.com, it facilitates nearly one million orders per year through its network of retailers worldwide. Wine-Searcher is the global leader in alcohol product search, boasting nearly 19 million listings from over 35,000 suppliers in 126 countries and a database searched 300 million times per year. Flaviar For Business offers a comprehensive suite of data analytics and advertising solutions along with Flaviar Checkout, enabling compliant DtC sales and an exclusive alcohol payment processing app for global e-commerce leader Shopify.

About Speakeasy Co.

Speakeasy Co. is a technology company and e-commerce platform for the wine and spirits industry that processes direct-to-consumer orders for brands. The central fulfillment model allows brands to sell directly to consumers from their own websites, while adhering to a three-tiered system. Brands have the ability to take control of their growth and end-to-end user experience, in addition to taking control of their data and analytics for their target customer. Speakeasy was advised by Marc Levit of ML Advisory.