The ride-hailing giant Uber has reached an agreement to buy Drizly, a popular on-demand alcohol delivery app, for $1.1 billion in cash and stock, according to a press statement. With Drizly, Uber is getting a leading on-demand alcohol marketplace in the US that’ll be integrated into the Uber Eats app.

A $1.1 billion exit represents a very lucrative one for Drizly, a startup that’s backed by roughly $120 million in venture funding. The company’s last funding round was a $50 million Series C raised in August 2020.

As it looks, Uber has its eyes set on expansion and has taken acquisitions as a way to do that. Under the leadership of its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the company made splashy acquisitions including a $2.65 billion deal for the food delivery app Postmates and a $3.1 billion deal for the Middle East ride-hailing app Careem.

Uber’s acquisitions have focused on its core businesses of ride-hailing and food delivery as it’s worked to shed other non-core businesses such as autonomous driving and its flying taxi division. 

Drizly serves on-demand alcohol in more than 1,400 cities across the US. It’s known to be the largest alcohol marketplace in the US, operating an on-demand model wherein it sources its alcohol products from a network of partner stores. 

Drizly is an eight-year-old startup that’s made its mark as a major alcohol delivery platform, fondly referred to as the “Amazon for liquor”. Now, it’s ridden its wave of high growth all the way to a $1.1 billion exit to Uber that’s expected to be completed in the first half of this year.

Drizly’s purchase represents Uber’s third-biggest acquisition by price since its start.

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