Why we invested in Karafe?

Karafe in one sentence

Karafe offers a new way to discover & purchase wine based on your taste & budget.

Discover  your own profile on their website: karafe.ch

The Problem

Wine consumers have 3 different frictions with current alternatives:

No guidance for novices

• "Wait.. Syrah is a region or a grappe ?"
• "Do I like fruity or mature wines?"
• "How can I feel again this vanilla taste I had ?"

Lack of personnalisation

• Most players offer large catalogs, and consumers are lost in complex jargon and filters.

Poor flexibility from players

• usually, consumers need to select 3 or 6 bottles of the same type to order
• Slow delivery times, not adapted to the changing behaviour looking for flexibility
• Free shipping often above CHF 300.- value of order.

The Solution

Karafe offers a simple and intuitive approach to discover & purchase wine. They focus on 3 areas:

Wine expertise

• People discover their wine ID in 3 minutes
• They hunt the newly rising & established stars of wine

Digital

• They offer personal wine recommendations
• Customers' profiles evolve with their changing tastes (coming in 2026)

Flexibility

• You can order from 2 bottles (mix or same) with free shipping in 48 hours.

“Excellent service, incredible Taylor-made selection that made me discover wines that I love and very fast delivery!!” - F. - Karafe’s customer

The business model is an e-commerce approach with its own storage.

The Market

Revenue generated by Swiss consumers, excluding Horeca (hotel, restaurant & café) is 2.3 billion per year. The ambition is to reach 10% of this market in the long term, meaning a CHF 230 million opportunity.

Go-to-Market

Karafe elaborated a go-to-market based on 3 acquisition channels:

• Paid advertising: is the main channel of acquisition. Social media is a good place to target wine consumers with different strong messages such as “drink less but better”. They do outstanding work at optimising their ads to maintain or even reduce their paid CAC.
• Word-of-mouth: The ludic approach of the profiling model of Karafe also supports a strong word of mouth between users. Everyone wants to know his/her right profile! ;)
• traction an important referral campaign also supported their early growth.

Traction & Unit Economics

Karafe was launched in March 2025. After 1 year, they show strong traction:

• a 25% MoM average growth
• > 6’000 profile created
• An average LTV/CAC of 3.5 is projected at 18 months 

Competitive Advantage

Karafe differs from its competitors in 2 main axes:

• Personnalisation

They develop a unique profiling model based on social studies & personal analysis. They’re also planning to switch from a static approach to a dynamic one, by allowing consumers to give feedback & modify their profile. Making it possible to evolve with their tastes.

• Curated selection

Charles, the co-founder and wine expert, tastes more than 6’000 wines per year and only keeps a few dozen. This strict selection creates a unique approach augmented by precise information and storytelling.

The Team

Charles & Bryan are both passionate about wine with complementary skills. A-Players in their own domain of expertise:

• Charles has the wine knowledge & access to a unique network of high-quality wine producers.
• Bryan has the product & operational experience to run and scale a digital business.

Their professionalism, ambition, and passion for wine make them a super strong binôme to succeed. 

At Apolo, we back startups that solve concrete problems with high-value solutions and teams that balance strong execution with the ability to question themselves.

Karafe checks all the boxes and fits our investment criteria.

We’re proud to be part of the journey.

More to come in the next episode 😉

P.S: And you, what is your wine profile on karafe.ch?