Vinomofo Secures $25m In Funding From Blue Sky Venture Capital

Founders and brothers-in-law Andre Eikmeier and Justin Dry began the venture as a wine blog from an Adelaide garage five years ago. Today, the business is run out of Cremorne, Victoria, employs 100 people and has more than 400,000 customers with turnover close to $50 million a year.

Eikmeier says the funding will enable rapid scale for the business upon a proven and robust model, both locally and abroad. “Vinomofo wants everyone to be able to experience good wine – that’s our mission. From what we’ve seen across the past five years in Australia, we believe that a lot of people all over the world need Vinomofo – wine lovers and makers alike, and this investment is going to help us bring our vision to life.

“Vinomofo has achieved 100 per cent YoY growth for the past 12 months, we’re on track this financial year to surpass $50 million in annual revenue, and now it’s time to take our offer to the next level in Australia, and to the world,” Eikmeier said.

But things haven’t always been easy for the Aussie entrepreneurs. In 2012, they sold most of their business to the Catch Group, but when things weren’t working out, bought it back just over a year later.

So when it came to finding the right funding partner this time around, Eikmeier said Blue Sky Venture Capital was a good fit because of a good track record and a strong human culture.

“We certainly haven’t rushed into this decision to raise. We’ve valued our independence, and our culture is at the heart of what we’ve built. When it became clear to Justin and I that a raise was the right thing to do strategically, finding the right partner was paramount, and Blue Sky emerged as a clear fit.

“We’re also really proud the entire raise was funded here in Australia, with an Australian partner. It’s a good sign for the future of our start-up and growth company eco-system,” Eikmeier said.

Dr Elaine Stead, investment director at Blue Sky Venture Capital, says Vinomofo demonstrates the performance qualities at quantum and stage sought by the fund.

“Vinomofo is a great expression of the quality of deals that come through our doors. In just five years, Andre and Justin have built a cracking business with huge scope to scale globally, which is where we come in. This is why we have started fundraising for a $200 million fund, as we are now coming across companies that need at least $20 million to execute on their expansion plans,” Dr Stead said.

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