BAXUS, a global marketplace for collectible spirits, announced a successful $5M seed round led by Multicoin Capital, with significant contribution from Solana Ventures, Narwhal Ventures, FJ Labs, and several high profile angel investors. The company will use the capital to scale their sensor and vaulting technologies and serve the growing retail and institutional interest in the collectible spirits market.

Collectible wines and spirits represent one of the most rapidly expanding and lucrative asset classes with the global luxury wines and spirits market forecasted to surge from $250 billion to $470 billion by 2032. However, being predominantly localized, disconnected and auction-based, the collectible spirits market is highly illiquid, inefficient and opaque creating countless challenges for collectors in pricing and sourcing specific, coveted bottles.

BAXUS modernizes the collectible spirits market by bringing it online and constructing a liquid marketplace that seamlessly connects buyers and sellers. Built on Solana, the BAXUS Marketplace harnesses open Web3 payment infrastructure to reduce costs, increase transparency and infuse liquidity into what has historically been a fragmented, offline market.

BAXUS enables users to transact using credit card, ACH, direct wire, and crypto or USDC.

“We’ve created the first and only marketplace for spirits collectors that provides pricing data, vaulting solutions, and access for everyone – from casual drinkers and budding enthusiasts to serious collectors across the global spirits landscape,” Tzvi Wiesel, CEO and co-founder of BAXUS, said in a news release. “With this funding, we’re primed to scale BAXUS, modernizing the antiquated wine and spirits market. Our aim is to significantly broaden market participation, making collecting and trading as easy as a trip to the liquor store or swapping tokens on chain.”

Inventory gets added to the marketplace when collectors send their bottles to the BAXUS Vault, a secure, temperature-controlled network of locations that provides storage and insurance for collector’s prized bottles.

Each bottle is then scanned in high resolution, tokenized, and represented on-chain as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in collectors’ dashboards allowing them to instantly list and trade for a fraction of traditional fees. Provenance, information, and pricing data is securely attached to each bottle. Any bottles purchased on BAXUS or stored in the BAXUS Vault can be redeemed at any time or left in the vault to be securely stored or traded at a future date.

“BAXUS is uniquely positioned to create a new, liquid market out of a previously opaque one. We’re excited to back the BAXUS team and help them transform and democratize one of the most exciting and profitable asset classes,” Spencer Applebaum, Investment Partner at Multicoin Capital, said. “The fine spirits market desperately needs better pricing, liquidity, and authenticity; it’s similar to other collectible markets, like sneakers or trading cards. BAXUS is building a blockchain-powered StockX for the spirits industry, which, if history is a reference, should radically expand this market in the coming years.”

In late 2023, BAXUS acquired BoozApp, an app for collection tracking and valuation that enables all spirits enthusiasts to meticulously manage their collection, including purchase prices, tasting notes, and fill levels and provide them with instant valuations of their bottles. BoozApp is one of the most popular apps for collectors, tracking over 1.5 million bottles and over $100m in collective value.

The company plans to integrate BoozApp’s inventory and data into its marketplace, granting collectors unprecedented visibility into their collections and desirability. The BAXUS Market Value, which represents the fairest market value based on multiple sources of data, helps collectors find their most coveted bottles at the best prices. This integration allows collectors to seamlessly list their bottles on the BAXUS marketplace directly through the app.

Collectors can sign up for BAXUS here and follow the brand on Twitter or Instagram for the latest news on the BAXUS Marketplace, Vault and featured rare bottles.