Santé raises $7.6M seed to build the first AI and fintech infrastructure for the wine and liquor industry

For years, wine and liquor retailers have operated in a corner of retail that most software companies quietly ignored. Regulations change by city block. Inventory behaves differently from standard consumer goods. A single bottle can belong to multiple pricing tiers at once. Kegs come back. Vintages matter. Age checks are mandatory. And much of the work still happens through spreadsheets, emails, and manual data entry.

That gap has now attracted serious capital.

Santé announced today that it has raised a $7.6 million seed round led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from Operator Collective, Y Combinator, and Veridical Ventures. The New York–based company is building what it calls the first AI and fintech infrastructure created specifically for the wine and liquor industry.

The timing is deliberate. Santé says it grew 400 percent over the past year and now handles more than $500 million in annual card processing volume across hundreds of stores. That traction comes from focusing on problems that general retail software never solved.

Wine and liquor stores deal with a web of local laws, distributor relationships, and pricing rules that break most off-the-shelf systems. One SKU can be sold as a case, a six-pack, or a single bottle, all of which must stay in sync. Inventory must track vintages and keg deposits. Taxes differ by state and sometimes by city. Store owners often spend hours each week reconciling invoices by hand.

“After over a decade with Atlantic Systems, we switched to Santé, and it’s transformed our operation. Ordering products used to take up so much of my time, but now I can create purchase orders in minutes and focus on my customers,” said Bobby Cahill, owner of Wine Cellar of Queens, one of the largest wine and spirit retailers in New York City.

After 400% Growth, Santé Raises $7.6M to Power AI-Driven Wine and Liquor Retail

Santé’s platform pulls inventory, e-commerce, delivery, marketing, and reporting into a single system, with AI handling the heavy lifting behind the scenes. Invoices from distributors can be scanned and converted into live inventory updates. Customer data feeds outreach through email and SMS when products return to stock or promotions go live. Product catalogs update automatically across online storefronts and marketplaces. Orders from delivery apps flow straight into the point of sale.

The company positions itself less as a single tool and more as core infrastructure for an industry that still runs on fragmented software.

“Wine and liquor retailers have been left behind by traditional POS and eCommerce companies,” said Santé CEO Darren Fike. “With the support of the top investors in vertical SaaS, we’re excited to continue building the most effective platform for the wine and spirits industry while also expanding to support small business owners across similar verticals like convenience and local grocery stores.”

Investors see opportunity in the market’s size and the friction baked into it.

“The liquor and grocery industry is massive but also incredibly complex, fragmented, and regulated in every state, county, and even city,” said Tyler Churchill, Partner at Bonfire Ventures. “Santé is approaching this industry with the attention to detail necessary to deliver real, end-to-end value with AI. Store owners aren’t simply getting another tool to track inventory. They are getting a companion technology platform that helps them run a stronger, more profitable business with ease. Santé customers are making more money, acting on more insights, and finding new ways to expand their businesses: one customer we spoke to decided to grow his store count by 2x solely because Sante made it possible and profitable.”

With fresh funding, Santé plans to expand its sales team and extend its platform to other retail categories facing similar regulatory and operational constraints. For now, the company remains focused on an industry that has long operated outside the spotlight of modern retail tech, despite moving billions of dollars in product each year.