Untappd, a popular mobile app that allows consumers to rate and review the beers they drink, today announced it has merged with Next Glass, a wine and beer recommendation platform.
Founded more than five years ago by Tim Mather and Greg Avola, Untappd has, over the years, developed a reputation as the go-to check-in app for beer fans. With a user base of nearly 3 million drinkers, the company has been able to grow both its reach and its database by crowdsourcing product information from users who share and rate the beers they are drinking.
A part-time gig for both Mather and Avola, Untappd monetized the venture through geo-targeted promotions, like beer festival advertisments, and “badges” — achievements that users could unlock as they used the app. With the merger, Untappd will become a subsidiary of Next Glass and both founders will begin working full-time on improving functionality, Avola told Brewbound
“With the resources provided by Next Glass, we will be able to transition into full time roles within Untappd as well as hire on more staff to speed up our feature development and make the platform even better for the community,” the founders wrote in a blog post.
Launched in 2014, Next Glass allows users to scan bottles of wine and beer to see if they match a preferred drinking profile.
“Our focus has always been on leveraging our science and machine learning to build amazing tools for consumers, breweries, retailers, and bars,” Kurt Taylor, the founder and CEO of Next Glass said in a statement. “Together with Untappd, we have created a powerful combination that will provide millions of consumers and businesses around the world with an unprecedented experience when it comes to sharing, socializing, and learning about all things beer.”
Avola said the company would look for additional ways to monetize the platform, adding that the company will also begin looking into ways it could provide valuable analytical data to breweries.
“It’s definitely something that we will be looking at and we always thought it would be great for breweries to access better information about who is drinking their beer,” he said.
Currently, brewery owners can claim their pages for free and access high-level data such as recent check-ins, top-ranked beers and product ratings.