Vivino
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Wine marketplace, Digital platform |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Heini Zachariassen, Theis Søndergaard |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen , Denmark |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Chris Tsakalakis (CEO) |
| Products | Wine marketplace, Wine recommendation engine, Wine prediction feature |
| Website | vivino |
Vivino is a digital platform and marketplace for wine, boasting over 60 million downloads. Compatible with both Android and Apple devices, Vivino was established in 2010 by Heini Zachariassen and Theis Søndergaard. By 2022, its extensive catalog featured upwards of 15.8 million wines and attracted close to 61 million users worldwide. The company is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and maintains operational branches in the United States.
History
Founded in Copenhagen by Heini Zachariassen and Theis Søndergaard, Vivino launched its iPhone application in July 2011. With limited initial knowledge about wine, the founders aimed to serve everyday wine enthusiasts. Early expansion was driven by encouraging users to upload images of wines, quickly growing the collection to 50,000 entries. By the end of 2014, the platform handled approximately 250,000 photo uploads daily; around 25,000 were identified automatically, while a dedicated team of 50 contractors based in India manually processed the remainder.
In July 2013, Vivino raised $10.3 million in funding from Balderton Capital and Creandum. This was followed by a $25 million Series B round in January 2016 led by SCP Neptune, the family investment office of Christophe Navarre, then CEO of Moet Hennessy. February 2018 marked a $20 million Series C financing round spearheaded again by SCP Neptune with participation from Balderton Capital, Creandum, SEED Capital Denmark, and Iconical. Vivino’s business model emphasizes long-term profitability through in-app purchases and targeted email marketing campaigns, recognizing that only about 5% of wine sales occur via online channels.
In March 2018, Chris Tsakalakis, formerly President of StubHub, was appointed as CEO. In 2021, Vivino completed a $155 million Series D funding round led by Swedish investment firm Kinnevik, joined by new investor Sprints Capital alongside existing backers GP Bullhound and Creandum.
App features
Vivino introduced Vivino Market in 2017, a recommendation engine that suggests wines tailored to users’ previous searches and buying history. In 2020, the platform added a predictive feature that estimates how well a particular wine will align with an individual’s taste preferences, further personalizing the user experience.
Awards and nominations
- Heini Zachariassen received the Entrepreneur of the Year accolade at the GP Bullhound Investor Allstar Awards.
- Nominated for the Danish App Awards in 2012.
- Awarded the Danish Growth Award in 2012 for his work with Vivino.
- Shortlisted for Best Design at the Danish Startup Awards in 2013.
- Nominated for Best Original Content for Mobile at the Mobile Excellence Awards in 2013.
- Winner of the Real Innovation Awards in 2017 under The Best Beats First category.