The Bordeaux start-up is flourishing with its next-generation platform for the sale and conservation of fine wines and luxury spirits InterCellar – founded by Louis de Bonnecaze and Maxime Garraud – is attracting investors: last December it announced a fundraising of one million euros, from influential business angels such as Cyrus Fazel (CEO of the crypto exchange Zwitsersborg), Sami Chlagou (CEO of Cross the centuries), the brothers Simonijn (Meria group) or Bilal El Alamy, CEO of the studio Pyratz Labsalready in the capital of the company.
On the other hand, the young company had until now kept confidential the entry into its capital of Partouche Multiverse, the specialized Web3 and NFT (non-fungible token) subsidiary of the Partouche casino group: a partnership that represents a long-term relationship between two companies. “We were already following Wine Bottle Club closely (private NFT club for wine and spirits lovers, also founded by Louis de Bonnecaze and Maxime Garraud, editor’s note) and in all sincerity we greatly appreciated the implementation of this project, explains Maurice Schulmann, General Representative of the Partouche Group Capital. We therefore invested in InterCellar mainly because of our personal affinity, but also because of their short, medium and long-term strategy.”
An investment of 5% of InterCellar’s capital
Since its founding in June 2023, the start-up has aimed to democratize investments in fine wines and luxury spirits. To achieve this, it has set up a virtual marketplace where it sells bottles associated with NFTs, which are equivalent to property titles. If the customer can choose to receive his purchase, InterCellar especially offers to store it in cellars under optimal conditions: thus the bottle can be easily resold on the secondary market, without transport problems, simply by redeeming the NFT. “This solves a real problem: how can ownership of a cellar containing aging wines be transferred or transferred?”Louis entrusted de Bonnecaze to Capital last October. In addition to this use case, the young company is developing its own range of spirits and has already launched an Armagnac under the Herreman brand. “Partouche represented an excellent partner for InterCellar. In addition to the Web3 part with Multiverse, it is a group that has hotels, casinos and restaurants. This is an extremely interesting entry point for us and our products that are of quality, recognizes Maxime Garraud. We have common customers. It is very important for us from a strategic point of view.”
With this investment, the figures of which have not been communicated to us, but which, according to our information, represents a 5% interest in the capital of InterCellar, Partouche Multiverse wants to “developing new connections with other NFT communities, as part of the Joker Club (Partouche’s NFT members club, editor’s note)“, says Maurice Schulmann. InterCellar products are already being showcased during Web3 community evenings organized by Partouche Multiverse, such as the evenings planned soon in parallel with NFT Paris, and they will also eventually be integrated into the online store reserved for NFT collectors. Behind the scenes, subsidiary Partouche also wants to benefit from the entrepreneurial qualities of InterCellar’s founders, and in particular their knowledge of the wine sector. “We will not fail to benefit from the connections of Louis and Maxime, who are already very well known in the spirit world, confirms Maurice Schulmann. Conversely, Maxime Garraud recognizes that Partouche’s presence in the capital of the company may be of a nature “to reassure certain areas that are still not comfortable with start-ups and technology”.
Known for their very economical, if not smart, management of their cash flow, able to organize large-scale promotional events (such as last August in Biarritz at the private estate of Alain Afflelou on the sidelines of NFT Biarritz) without spending a euro or almost, entrepreneurs from Bordeaux do not intend to change their ways with this new investor at the table. If Maxime Garraud trusts us, yes “obviously necessary to structure ourselves and accelerate the development of the company, especially abroad, in New York, Switzerland or Dubai”the pair has their eyes on the long term, convinced of the opportunities that arise for their value proposition: “Even if it is a market that has existed for three centuries, the economic model of wine, which is not very virtuous, will change: we offer a solution that likes and answers many of the problems of the sector. assures Maxime Garraud. With Partouche and this new fame, InterCellar will be able to become a privileged contact for this market.. If it refuses to reveal its revenue targets for this year 2024, the company claims to have signed about a hundred references for this year and plans to welcome several thousand users.