Bulletins

Uber is buying alcohol delivery service Drizly

Uber is buying alcohol delivery service Drizly

Uber does rides to the bar, and now the bar itself.

Uber announced today that it will be acquiring Drizly for $1.1 billion. Its alcohol marketplace will be integrated with the Uber Eats app while Drizly maintains a separate app.

Business has boomed for Drizly since the start of the pandemic. The company has said lockdowns drove up sales by 400% in May.

"Wherever you want to go and whatever you need to get, our goal at Uber is to make people's lives a little bit easier," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a release. "That's why we've been branching into new categories like groceries, prescriptions and, now, alcohol."

Drizly's success to date had been an example of a new, upstart company that has succeeded in a digital marketplace dominated by a few large players, including Uber. The ride-hailing company also bought Postmates late last year for $2.65 billion as its main business has struggled during the pandemic.

Emily Birnbaum

Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a former tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.

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