As part of a deal that saw Naked Wines’ previous investors, WIV, bought out by Majestic Wines, the UK’s largest independent wine specialist, for $137M (£70m).
As part of the deal Rowan Gormley, the founder of Naked Wines, became the new CEO of Majestic.
Naked Wines has an excellent growth track record: for the year ended 31 December 2014 sales of $145M million were up 40% year on year and the brand currently has over 300,000 customers funding over 130 winemakers.
Naked Wines commission all their products from scratch through independent Australian and New Zealand winemakers. Via its crowd-funded business model the company has supported the struggling careers of many independent winemakers.
Naked Wines’ Angel members enjoy benefits such as exclusive access to new wines, wholesale prices, tasting events and the customer rating system in return for a minimum spend of $40 per month.
Luke Jecks launched Naked Wines Australia in July 2012, in a bid to change the way that Australians buy wine and so far, 36,000 Australians have joined the movement as Angel members with a further 2080 on the Angel waiting list.
Jecks’ first act as CEO has been to put the brand’s Angel members in charge of the direction of the business: Angel members vote for their favourite business pledges, which (once finalised) will form the basis of Naked Wines business strategy in 2015. =
Jecks will work closely with the Managing Directors of the US and UK businesses and will be responsible for the overall Naked Wines group performance.
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