New Private Sale Site Targets Wine Enthusiasts [INVITES]

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Name: Lot18

Quick Pitch: Lot18 is a membership-by-invitation website for wine and epicurean products from coveted producers at attractive discounts.

Genius Idea: Online private sales are big business these days. It all began with fashion sites, like Gilt Groupe, Rue La La and ideeli, quickly followed by sites that specialized in home products, like One King's Lane, SnappyTuna and Bulx. You can find even more specialized private sale sites for travel, restaurants, and now, with the introduction of Lot18, wine.

For wine enthusiasts, this is an obvious win, as Lot18 members have access to fine wines (and eventually, specialty foods) made in small quantities and sold at great prices.

For wine producers, it's also a win, though. Wineries often struggle to generate brand awareness among potential customers who have not heard of or tasted their wines. An online presence, via a website or social platforms, can help, but even then, engagement is difficult. The Lot18 team personally sources and reviews each wine that is presented as a deal, and the wineries manage the sales and shipping processes. This model ensures quality wines, as the Lot18 team is well-versed in viticulture and enology, and enables wineries to reach new markets.

Founded by Philip James, founder of the world's largest wine site, Snooth.com, and Kevin Fortuna, a veteran technology entrepreneur, Lot18 completed a $3 million Series A round of funding last week, led by FirstMark Capital, a New York City-based venture capital firm. The round also included returning investors and angels from top companies such as Quigo, Time Inc., AOL, Ziff Davis, Bankrate and Experian, and follows a $500,000 seed round closed earlier this year.

Founder Philip James said of the startup:

"We want to fix the way wine is sold in the U.S. The winemaker is the rockstar, but few people are lucky enough to go visit the winery and experience that. Instead wine is sold like it's a commodity. We want to change that, to bring the story behind the wine to the consumer, at the time of purchase."

If you're itching to test out the service, we've got 1,000 invites to dish out, courtesy of Lot18 -- sign up here.

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Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark