Wine startup builds on international competition success
Birkbeck student Mr Tai Alegbe is one of wine startup Baacco’s four-strong team, who were finalists at this year’s University Startup World Cup (USWC) in Copenhagen.
Birkbeck student Mr Tai Alegbe is one of wine startup Baacco’s four-strong team, who were finalists at this year’s University Startup World Cup (USWC) in Copenhagen.
Tai (taking an MSc in International Business and Management) co-founded Baacco after a drink with a work colleague in a City bar one late summer evening in 2014. The friend was going to France to buy wine, which made Tai think about applying an existing online consumer model to an area hitherto underexplored by the web – wine. Hence Baacco, a website for customers to browse and buy a huge range of wines online.
And the name Baacco? Tai explains: “It's a wordplay on the Roman god of wine, 'Bacchus'… It’s hard to say and spell… but we feel it means the name sticks.”
The USWC gathers an elite selection of student startups for a week of development and networking, and the Baacco team applied on the day they found it online.
After qualifying for the finals in September, Baacco came third in the consumer and web category, and a USWC judge said it was “the most investable business”. Tai also found the competition was a chance for “meeting some great teams… I particularly liked the team from Stanford”.
Customers have also been complimentary. Lydia wrote: “Great wines and excellent customer service.” Baacco is now looking ahead: “We're releasing a new web product in October,” to improve the company as a portal for finding and buying more wines.
The team are also looking to use USWC “to leverage… relationships and insights”. They are already speaking with prominent early-stage seed investors and are advised by two respected venture capitalists. Baacco is also involved with two prestigious business accelerators, Oxygen Accelerator and MassChallenge, and is endorsed by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).
Business has interested Tai since he was 11. After studying law and business he spent five years in the City, where he feels exposure to a commercial environment has been very helpful.
And what is his overall view of the USWC? “Positive, I would highly recommend Birkbeck or any other University of London students to apply.”
Learn more about the University Startup World Cup.
Discover Birkbeck’s Enterprise Pathways for 2015-16, including information from selected partners and external organisations.
Global Entrepreneurship Week 2015 takes place between 16th - 22nd November, with various events from Birkbeck in partnership with SOAS and Goldsmiths. Full listings.