Augmented Reality Wine Snub – Wine Industry Investors Only
Equity Capital Raise Exclusion Leaves Venture Capital Firms Seething
February 28, 2020. Melbourne, Australia.
A wine-tech start-up’s decision to exclude professional investors from its much-anticipated equity capital raise, has stunned the investment community. Winerytale, a platform promising augmented reality (AR) from every wine, has limited its shares to individuals and companies “in and around the wine industry”, leaving venture capital firms and portfolio investors seething. The $1.25 Million capital raise, which is small by investment standards, is a first-to-market opportunity that is widely expected to deliver big things for the wine industry, as well as for shareholders.
Winerytale demonstration video
According to founding partner, Dave Chaffey, the team has drawn the ire of the investment community, “There’s a tremendous opportunity here, and we feel that it’s critical for us to have the industry involved in this first round, rather than to be driven by the short-term dollar-focus of investment bankers.”
“I understand that frustration, particularly for investment firms who have followed our journey for a while now,” says Chaffey, “this is the pick of a large bunch, with enormous potential and yet it’s been taken off the table”
The capital raise comes on the back of a string of positive company announcements, including aggressive rollouts of the technology to the Australian & US wine industries, as well as continued development of its self-translating content prototypes.
A Fast-Moving Playing Field
The business strategy, which includes offering the technology to wineries for free, is drawing strong comparisons to the early days of internet juggernaut YouTube, whose strategic approach to market saw its acquisition by Google for $1.65 Billion, in less than two years.
Despite the close out, Chaffey says that Venture Capital has a role to play further into the future “Venture Capital is better suited to the next round of fund raising, which we are hoping to undertake at the end of 2020.”
“The risk is almost zero at that stage, and returns are pretty much guaranteed. But of course, the cost of the investment is likely to be a lot higher, probably 8 to 10 times the current value, which is what VC’s are unhappy about.”
“It hasn’t been an easy stance to take,” said Chaffey, “we’ve said no to two approaches already, both big tech players, and both within the first week of opening”
Wine Industry Shareholders Only
Chaffey is quick to point out that potential shareholders shouldn’t shy away from the capital raise.
“The last thing we want to do is confuse anyone” says Chaffey, who adds “the Winerytale equity capital raise is open to anyone or any entity in the wine industry or from the wider food and beverage industry. That’s the extent of it.”
“Minimum investment is $US125,000 which is within reach of a lot of people. We’re quietly confident that we’ll be able to close the offer in March, if not sooner – but there’s a lot of conversations to have in that time”
For further information about the capital raise please visit winertytale.com/investor-offer
Download the Winerytale App | Google Play | iOS
About the Winerytale team
Winerytale is led by Matt Hallberg, Luke Chaffey, and Dave Chaffey – recognised specialists in their respective fields of augmented reality, software development, and digital marketing strategy.
Media Centre & Resources
For more information including demonstration videos and hi-resolution images please visit
Media enquiries: Dave Chaffey, Winerytale Founder on marketing@winerytale.com | Ph: +61 1300 633 390
Press releases are generated outside of Spirited magazine and the information contained does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Spirited or its parent company, Sonoma Media Investments.
