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Last call: Alcohol delivery app Drizly, founded at BC, is shutting down
The company was acquired by Uber in 2021 for $1.1 billion.
Drizly, an alcohol delivery service more than a decade old, will be shutting down “slowly,” the company announced Monday night. Customers will be able to place orders through the end of March.
The company was founded at Boston College dorm room in 2012 by three college students and launched a year later. The app became a fixture in the Boston liquor market. Then, during the COVID-19 pandemic, their sales increased ten-fold, the founders told Boston College Magazine.
In 2021, Uber acquired Dizly for $1.1 billion, a year after the ride-sharing giant acquired Postmates.
“The dinosaurs. Malt liquor with caffeine it in. Drizly,” Drizly wrote on X. “Turns out, it’s true what they say… all good things must come to an end.”
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The company directed its customers to Uber Eats in the same post.
“You’ll probably feel at home at Uber Eats as the drink selection you know and love is available there,” the post said. “They’re tall. They’re dapper. And they’ll deliver almost anything. We think you’ll be really good together.”
Drizly CEO Cathy Lewenberg said on LinkedIn the company helped retailers and consumers during the pandemic. All of the original founders are no longer involved with the company.
“From the early days when our founders Cory Rellas, Justin Robinson, Nick Rellas and a small, but scrappy team pounded the pavement to make this dream a reality, to our acquisition by Uber and the effort these last couple years to support Uber’s BevAlc delivery endeavors on a global scale,” Lewenberg wrote. “The list of accomplishments runs long.”
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Less than a year ago, Drizly laid off about 100 workers. Drizly’s sister company Lantern, a marijuana delivery company based in Boston, also shuttered after they struggled to expand outside the commonwealth.
Drizly, one of the first alcohol delivery services, disrupted the alcohol industry, Lewenberg wrote.
“You transformed an industry and did it while staying true to our values and purpose,” Lewenberg wrote. “It’s been an honor to work with such an inspiring, resilient, talented and caring team who built a brand and experience people love.”
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