D2C Alcobev Brand O’Be Cocktails Shuts Shop

After failing to scout a buyer for more than a year, D2C beverages brand O’Be Cocktails has shut down operations. 

Confirming the development, the startup, in a post on LinkedIn, said, “We regret to inform you that our brand, O’ Be Cocktails, is no longer operational. All the love and support we have received over the years kept us moving upward and onward; however, the journey was short-lived yet full of fun and learning for everyone”. 

Founded in 2019 by Nitesh Prakash, O’Be Cocktails used to sell ready-to-drink cocktails across Bengaluru, Goa and Hyderabad, among six other states. The company had a presence in more than 1,700 wine outlets, and partnered with 22 private distributors.

Backed by the likes of Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal, Tracxn founder Abhishek Goyal, and Sprout Investments, the Bengaluru-based startup last raised an undisclosed amount of capital as part of its Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures in 2023.

Meanwhile, Prakash, in a post on the networking platform, attributed the shut down to the “commoditised” Indian alco-beverage industry. Elaborating on this, he said that the price-sensitive nature of the market did not align with the company’s “vision of creating a premium and convenient cocktail experience” for its consumers. 

“… After extensive retrospection and analysis, it all came down to one key realisation: Alcobev is not a consumer-backed but a commoditized industry, which does not align with our vision of creating a premium and convenient cocktail experience for our consumers,” he said. 

He also said that the company made “every possible effort” to find a suitable buyer for O’ Be Cocktails. “… But we believe we have now exhausted all remaining possibilities for a sale,” Prakash added. 

With this, O’Be Cocktail joins a growing list of startups that have shut shop in the past two years amid the raging funding winter, despite raising millions in funding and securing other resources.. As per Inc24 data, 12 startups shut shop in 2023 while a dozen other wound up operations last year. 

Coco Cola-backed foodtech platform Thrive was the latest to shut operations in December 2024, citing lack of resources and competition from giants like Zomato and Swiggy.