Digital Wine Ventures announces more clients, overseas expansion

Digital Wine Ventures (ASX:DW8) share price has now rocketed nearly 500 per cent so far in 2020, from 0.7 cents to over 4 cents.

Digital Wine Ventures offers an online logistics solution for wineries and makes money from trading, fulfillment and subscription fees.

COVID-19 lockdowns shut down booze stores but resulted in an e-commerce boom that’s been a windfall.

It left wineries with little other choice but to go online to reach customers – a significant portion of which have increased their consumption during the pandemic, according to Australian National University (ANU) research in May.

This morning, Digital Wine Ventures provided another positive trading update, revealing that it had signed 16 customers throughout June and 39 for the entire quarter — more than doubling its total at the end of the March quarter.

But the company said it was just getting started, noting only 2.7 per cent of Australian wineries were clients – for now.

“The business has still only just scratched the surface of the local addressable market,” it said.

Heading abroad

The company said it intended to solidify its presence in Australia before expanding the platform into other wine markets.

But in a telling sign, it signed on its first wine producer from France – the world’s biggest producer. Chateau Picoron, a winery in the Bordeaux region, came onboard as a client in the last month.

The company also is turning a particularly focused eye towards New Zealand’s 500 wineries. It noted they can easily take advantage of the same “direct to consumer” opportunity offered to Australian wineries.

Digital Wine Ventures shares only rose 10 per cent this morning but have enjoyed a stellar run in 2020, particularly in the last few weeks.

DW8 share price chart