Wine-by-the-glass subscription company Vinebox raised more than a glass last week – they raised $5.9 million in seed* funding with lead investor Harbinger Ventures. Harbinger joins Y Combinator and SGH Capital as investors in the wine startup. The San Francisco-based Vinebox will use the new capital to expand its team and scale its distribution to reach more customers, reports TechCrunch.

If you haven’t heard of Vinebox, the company was founded in 2016 by Rachel Vodofsky and Matt Dukes, attorneys with a shared interest in good wine. Their wine experts and sommeliers taste wines from all over the world, hand-selecting wines for their members to sample in their unique, curated by-the-glass membership program. Members do not get to choose the wines we receive.

“Vinebox is about discovery and expanding your wine drinking horizons. There are over 1,368 wine grape varieties in the world and over 72 countries that produce them,” says Vinebox in its FAQs. “Our new by-the-glass format allows you to try regions and grapes that you’ve never heard of or were hesitant to buy an entire bottle of.”

The company offers two membership plans: a quarterly plan priced at $79 per box (nine wine samples) and an annual plan priced at $72 per box, billed annually and up front at $288. Members can double their boxes to get twice the wine for a 10 percent discount. Wines are shipped in February, May, August and November.

The membership is only available in the U.S., though Vinebox cannot ship to Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont. In addition to the wines by-the-glass, members receive full-sized bottle credits each quarter ($30 in credits for annual members and $15 in credits for quarterly members). The credits are good toward the purchase of full-sized bottles; they expire 30 days after the end of each quarter. Though they have not disclosed membership numbers, Vinebox says they have shipped one million glasses of wine since the company started.

Vinebox has a unique niche with its wines by the glass, but a lot of competition in the world of wine club subscriptions, including wines from meal kits and other top brands. Among the competition are Cellars Wine Club, Vine Oh!, Winc, Blue Apron Wine, Hello Fresh Wine, Firstleaf and the Martha Stewart Wine Club. My Subscription Addiction named Vinebox its top 8 pick for wine club subscriptions in 2018. [Note: My Subscription Addiction notes that this is a monthly membership, but we can’t find mention of that on the Vinebox website. It looks like the company offered a monthly membership at one time.] 

According to TechCrunch, Vinebox is repackaging its product to sell multi-packs with a red blend and a rosé under the Usual brand, but they are pricey. A 12-pack runs $96. Dukes told TechCrunch that they are fighting the stigma that cheap wine comes in small bottles. In addition, Vinebox makes some of its available for a one-time purchase. The current selection features organic wines, and it is available for $87.

Insider Take:

We love innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit that lends itself to the membership model, allowing anyone with an idea to try it and then scale accordingly. That’s precisely what happened with Vinebox. With a small amount of capital, the company tried an idea – exposing members to wines from all over the world. Now that they’ve proven themselves and have a solid track record, new investors are taking notice and helping to scale the company. We’ll toast to that!

*Our original article noted this was Series A funding. We have corrected it to show that this was actually a seed funding round. Our apologies for the error.