Winc
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Winc was a Los Angeles-based direct-to-consumer wine subscription service, branding itself 'the internet's No. 1 way to wine'. It used digital quizzes to generate personalized wine recommendations, sold flexible memberships with home delivery, and later expanded into wholesale with retail partners like Target, Whole Foods and Albertsons. It raised about $54 million in venture capital before going public in November 2021 with a $22 million IPO at $13 per share.
02 / Winc FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Winc never turned a profit. It enjoyed a mid-pandemic revenue uplift of 77.5% from 2019 to 2020, but post-pandemic demand reversed - the DTC wine shipping industry saw its first-ever decline in 2022 (-10.3% volume). DTC sales fell 11.8% year over year while heavy fulfillment costs (FedEx alone was owed ~$568,000) and digital ad spend (Meta ~$750,000) crushed margins. The stock collapsed from $13 to about 20 cents. On November 30, 2022, Winc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with $50.3 million in assets and $36.75 million in debts.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Winc is founded as a direct-to-consumer wine subscription service with personalized recommendations.
- IPO
In November 2021, Winc goes public in a $22 million IPO at $13 per share.
- Chapter 11
On November 30, 2022, Winc files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing $50.3 million in assets and $36.75 million in debts; a stalking horse bidder is identified for substantially all assets.
- Acquired
In January 2023, Amass Brands acquires Winc's operating assets for about $10 million through Project Crush Acquisition Corp.; the brand continues.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Winc was founded in 2011 as a direct-to-consumer wine subscription service with personalized recommendations, quizzes and home delivery.
- 02
In November 2021, Winc went public in a $22 million IPO at $13 per share, never having turned a profit.
- 03
On November 30, 2022, amid falling DTC sales and heavy fulfillment costs, Winc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with $50.3 million in assets and $36.75 million in debts.
- 04
In January 2023, Amass Brands acquired Winc's operating assets for about $10 million.