If you’re a wine startup seeking to get in front of some
high-profile people with connections and capital, better take note of
the Wine 2.0 Business Plan competition.
It’s coming to an end in just
over a week. At midnight, April 2nd, the organizers of the event will stop
accepting participants. And, you don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to win. Last year’s winner – Crushpad – went on to raise $9 million in funding.
The winner will get a one-hour session with each of the judges.
The judges are Heidi Roizen, founder of Skinny Songs, former partner at Mobius Venture Capital; Richard Rosenblatt, CEO, Demand Media; Bowen Osbourn, M&A, Demand Media; Gary Vaynerchuk, star of Wine Library TV, Alan Citron, executive at Buzznet and J. Smoke Wallin, chairman of Wine 2.0, the wine social networking and events company that is hosting the competition.
With one week left, here’s the current standing, based on votes.
Vinobilla, is in first place so far. This startup essentially developed a tool to identify the characteristics of wine, enabling the attributes to be more visual and understood by consumers. No more guessing whether the wine has earth tones, no tannins, and a smooth finish, while shopping at, say, Whole Foods. This looks like a consumer-friendly, and easy way to learn about wines.
Bibola.com, is in second place. This company is the consumer-facing unit of Left Bank LLC, which also runs America Uncorked. America Uncorked sells wines wholesale while Bibola is an online platform for consumers to buy wines.
In third place is Curiosk Marketing Solutions, a wine marketing company. Curiosk has developed a kiosk that resides in wine and liquor retailers. The kiosk allows consumers to scan a wine bottle, and create personalized cards that have pre-filled information about the wine, such as characteristics and suggested pairings.
Vintage Graphs, Wine to Water and Snooth, are in fourth through sixth place.
Of course, there is still one week left. So, anything can happen in that week. So, if you’re in the competition, make sure you get your customers to give you solid testimonials. Start building your follower base to show that you’re popular. If you’re not in the competition, make sure to join in on the fun! If you’re a spectactor, make sure to vote!
Here’s the link to the Wine 2.0 competition.
May the best wine company win!
