Growing up in the Hunter Valley, a region of Australia known for its fine wines, Mitchell Fowler never knew he would one day have an idea that would revolutionize the wine industry. Now, after a long career in finance, he has returned to that heritage to launch a platform to solve the wine industry’s long procurement cycle and inventory management problems.
Ferovinum is a SaaS and lending platform for wine producers. Winemakers have trouble using traditional B2B lending or banking products because their inventory can’t be easily loaned out. So, Ferovinum turns wine and spirits produced into “just-in-time assets” so producers can focus their capital on growth rather than tying it up in inventory, and raising funds for their production in a way that would be riskier if they used traditional financial products.
Ferovinum customers place their stocks on the platform during production and distribution periods, and then sell them to vendors.
“Because the platform carries inventory for customers end-to-end — across the entire value chain — it allows the customer’s supply chain to leverage our supply chain technology, automation, and market access for import and export flows,” Fowler told TechCrunch in a phone call. “And so getting closer, for example, to exports to the U.S.”
The platform has the potential to “democratize” financing even for smaller producers, Fowler says.
The company has now raised $23.2m (£17.5m) to expand globally, and claims to have saved £114m in working capital for the UK wine and spirits industry as a result of customers using its platform.
Ferrovinum is also tackling a market with little direct competition. Wine and beverage producers often just bundle different software to run their businesses, and the financing side remains separate.
“There are SaaS tools, like Unleashed, for example, which is a wine inventory management software. But the beauty of what we’re building is that it’s comprehensive and sector-specific. So, from managing it in the warehouse to delivering it and meeting the needs of retailers,” Fowler said.
This caught the attention of Notion Capital, a European SaaS and cloud investment firm, whose general partner Jos White will now join Ferovinum’s board. The round also saw participation from Shaper Capital, Semapa Next and Ferovinum’s existing shareholders.
The startup's clients now include two independent Edinburgh distilleries (Holyrood Distillery and Port of Leith Distillery), as well as English sparkling wine producers Ridgeview Wine Estate and Hundred Hills Winery.
