Diageo India invests in liquor delivery start-up Hipbar.

Chennai-based alcohol payment and delivery startup HipBar has bagged funding of $3.96 Mn (INR 270 Mn) from beverage alcohol company Diageo India. With this deal, Diageo has acquired 26% stake in the company. Diageo India, the country’s leading beverage alcohol group, through its legal entity United Spirits Ltd on Monday said it has acquired 26 per cent equity in payment technology start-up, HipBar Pvt Ltd, for ₹27 crore
Diageo India will support HipBar’s digital ambition and help expand its footprint across more markets.

A statement from the company said with the HipBar app, age verified consumers can browse a range of alcoholic beverages, select a brand and make payment using the mobile wallet to have the product delivered at their doorstep (where permitted) or pick it up from a retail store at their convenience. HipBar has developed a stringent age verification process as well as highly compliant standard operating procedures to ensure that the company’s delivery service fosters a safe drinking environment in India.

Founded in 2015 by Prasanna Natarajan, currently HipBar operates in Bengaluru and Chennai. Prasanna Natarajan said, “We are glad to welcome Diageo India as an investor in HipBar and it shows the industry’s commitment and need for digital transformation. As a business, our interests will always be subservient to how HipBar is performing in the social sphere and if it is indeed bringing the intended benefits of technology to help people drink more responsibly. We hope to bring in the global best practices and build sustainable partnerships with governments, the trade and all the players in the industry to drive this category evolution.”

HipBar works closely with the beverage alcohol industry and the government to custom-build software and deploy technology projects. Some of these digital initiatives include a last-mile alcohol delivery platform, software-as-a-service based e-governance module for use by governments, HipBar Point-of-Sale for standalone licensed retail stores and HipBar Pay for government-controlled retail stores.
The startup’s revenue was Rs 8,108 in the year through March 2017. HipBar will continue to run as an independent company driven by its founding team, United Spirits said.