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The Journey Of Wine Recommendation App Vivino Which Raised 155 Million Dollars In Funding
Vivino, a startup and app provides recommendations for wine and also doubles as a marketplace for buying and selling wine. Vivino is now the world’s largest online wine marketplace. In their latest round of Series D funding, Vivino raised $ 155 million spurred by the rapid rise in their user base from 29 million in 2018 to 50 million currently. The funding will be used to improve its core technology and personalized recommendation engine, while also expanding its presence in key growth markets globally.
How did a startup which began as a wine rating app end up becoming as big as it is now? Read on to know about the incredible journey of Vivino.
Beginnings
Vivino was founded in 2010 by Danish entrepreneur Heini Zachariassen and Theis Søndergaard in Copenhagen, Denmark. It all began when Heini was at a local supermarket to purchase wine and could not decide which wine was good and which was bad. His only indication to make the choice was to go by looking at the labels on the bottles. It was then Heini realised that there was an opportunity to build something which lets users rate the wines which was similar to how Amazon lets users rate books and IMDB lets users rate movies.
ALSO READ: What Is Seed Funding And What Are The Sources For Seed Funding For Startups
Growth
When Vivino launched, there were hundreds if not thousands of apps available on the market which gave ratings for wines. Most of these apps were owned by people who are experts on wines and knew the market from top to bottom. Heini Zachariassen came from a software background and looked at the problem differently. After talking to users and customers Heini realised the problem boiled down to ‘is this bottle of wine good or bad?’
At the time of the launch, there was not much information available on the app. Vivino needed to look at the label on the wine bottle before providing information about the wine. Therefore, Vivino gathered as many labels as they could and added them to their database. The first breakthrough came when they offered a corkscrew for free to whoever uploaded the most number of label images thereby gaining 50,000 pictures. Vivino got as many wine labels as they could find and sent them to India. There people were manually looking at wine labels, researching information about those wines and adding as much information as possible to the app. Initially traction was slow, but when users saw the effort being put in adding the list of wines, organic growth slowly increased.
Vivino focussed on building the best product and not the perfect product. Considering that there would always be some wines missing, the goal was to go for the best product. Today they have information on 200,000 producers, 10 million wines and 1.3 billion photos of different wine labels in the app. Key priorities were based on three factors namely wine rating, price and the taste of the wine. Vivino built a machine learning tool which reads all the reviews and puts together a structured description of the wine taste. This feature turned out to be a huge hit.
Today Vivino established itself as a market leader in their space and has over 700 suppliers around the world. Vivino now has 50 million downloads and is hundred times bigger than the number 2 wine app Delectable.
Let us know in the comments if you have ever used Vivino or will begin using it after reading this article!
A decade ago, the success of a startup was measured largely by its ability to raise capital. Today, a different metric is gaining importance: the ability to generate meaningful exits for investors. Large stake sales by early backers are becoming increasingly common, not because growth opportunities have disappeared, but because India’s startup ecosystem is entering a more mature phase where capital is expected to complete its full cycle from investment to returns.
This evolution is particularly significant for consumer brands that have successfully blended technology, retail, and strong brand-building. Companies that were once viewed as high-risk startup bets are now attracting institutional investors capable of absorbing large transactions. Such developments indicate that these businesses are no longer being valued solely on future potential; they are increasingly being assessed on operational performance, market leadership, and long-term profitability. In many ways, investor exits are becoming a validation of a company’s ability to create lasting enterprise value.
The broader implication extends beyond a single company or investor. Successful exits encourage more global capital to enter India’s startup ecosystem because they demonstrate that liquidity opportunities exist at scale. As more venture-backed companies approach public listings, secondary transactions, or strategic investments, the focus of founders and investors alike may shift from chasing headline valuations to building durable businesses. The next chapter of India’s startup journey will likely be defined not just by the creation of unicorns, but by the creation of companies capable of delivering sustained returns to all stakeholders.
Apple has unveiled the new MacBook Air with M5 chip, starting at $999 for 13-inch and $1,299 for 15-inch models. The MacBook Air M5 boasts a 2nm M5 chip with 12-core CPU, 18-core GPU, and 50 TOPS Neural Engine for seamless AI tasks like real-time translation and 8K editing. Up to 22 hours of battery life, Thunderbolt 5, and Wi-Fi 7 make it the ultimate ultraportable, now 10% thinner at 0.44 inches with fanless cooling.
Key MacBook Air M5 features include Liquid Retina XDR display (500 nits, nano-texture option), 12MP Center Stage camera, and six-speaker Spatial Audio. Colors like new Sky Blue join Midnight and Starlight. Pre-orders are live today, with macOS Sequoia 15.4 enhancing Apple Intelligence and iPhone Continuity for students, pros, and remote workers.
Why buy MacBook Air M5 now? It outpaces Snapdragon X Elite rivals with ecosystem magic and future-proof performance, eyeing top 2026 laptop sales. CEO Tim Cook calls it “more capable than ever.” Visit apple.com for M5 MacBook deals and specs.
Delhi NCR-based gaming startup Zupee has acquired Mumbai-based microdrama platform Vertical TV in a deal valued under INR 40 Cr. This move strengthens Zupee Studio, its short-video arm launched in September 2025, by integrating Vertical TV’s expertise in bite-sized dramas like romance and thrillers.
Facing challenges from India’s 2025 real-money gaming ban, Zupee valued at $1 Bn after raising $120 Mn has pivoted to non-gaming content, including recent layoffs of 40% of its workforce. The acquisition builds on its November 2025 purchase of Australian AI firm Nucanon for interactive storytelling, targeting its 200 Mn+ users with engaging, mobile-first formats.
This deal underscores the rising microdrama trend in India, helping Zupee diversify amid regulatory pressures and compete in the short-video space dominated by quick, shareable content for on-the-go audiences.
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