The round was led by Khosla Ventures with participation from Las Olas Venture Capital and angel investors across technology, wine and hospitality. In conjunction with the funding, Plum has appointed hospitality industry veteran Joe Berger – currently Executive Vice President and President of the Americas for Hilton Hotels & Resorts, responsible for the operations functions of more than 350 corporately managed Hilton hotels and Hilton Grand Vacation resorts – to its board of directors.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate adoption of its appliance and expand into the luxury hotel sector. Plum has already signed deals with the sector’s most iconic brands, including properties under the Four Seasons, Marriott, SBE Group, Langham, Hyatt, Hilton, and Rosewood flags.
Co-founded by David Koretz, CEO, Plum makes an appliance to fully automate the preserving and serving of wine. Users drop in any 750ml bottle of wine with any closure, and Plum takes care of the rest – automatically identifying the wine, setting the perfect serving temperature, cooling each bottle individually, and extracting the wine one glass at a time. It uses a motorized needle that lasts 300 bottles per chamber to pierce the foil and closure so the wine stays fresh.
The company, which also has offices in Palo Alto, California, also operates The Plum for Hotels program, which brings on-demand, in-room wine by the glass to guests, offering guests an innovative service amenity and giving hotels a new in-room profit center.
FinSMEs
17/07/2017