VCs sell Wine in Black to trade

Black River Ventures, BtoV Partners, E.Ventures and Passion Capital also sold their stakes in the company. Project A and E.Ventures were first involved in a series-A funding round in February 2012, and both firms continued to invest in various rounds until 2015. Black River Ventures, a Russian VC, led the company's most recent round in 2015.

Viva's acquisition took place in the last quarter of 2018 and will be formally completed over the next few weeks. Viva plans to boost their e-commerce capabilities through the acquisition, while its global supplier relationships and understanding of the market will benefit Wine in Black.

Managing director and co-founder Stephan Linden will leave the company and co-founder Christian Hoya will stay on to manage the business. The company is said to have an eight-digit turnover.

Previous funding
After Project A and E.Venture first invested in Wine in Black in early 2012, they were joined in another round of funding by Bright Capital in December 2012. Project A, Bright Capital, E.Ventures and Passion Capital were joined by BtoV in a further funding round of an undisclosed single-digital million sum in 2014.

In 2015, Black River Ventures led a funding round that brought Wine in Black's total fundraising between 2014-2015 up to €10m, according to Unquote Data.

Project A's investment was taken from their Project A Ventures I fund, which held a final close on €80m in 2012.

Company
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Germany, the online retailer operates in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland. The company operates its own website where it sells a variety of premium wines and spirits with an average price of €15.

People
Black River Ventures – Andrey Daleky (partner).
Wine in Black – Stephan Linden, Christian Hoya (managing directors).

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• Topics
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• DACH
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