Uber is shutting down the alcohol delivery service Drizly just three years after acquiring it in a massive $1.1 billion deal, according to a Monday report from the news site Axios.
Drizly confirmed the news on its social media channels on Monday shortly after the news broke, in a statement that starts: “The dinosaurs. Malt liquor with caffeine in it. Drizly. Turns out, it’s true what they say… all good things must come to an end.”
The statement also shared details of the closure. The brand reassured loyal users that they are shutting down slowly, as orders will still remain open until the end of March, and promises to give fair warning before it’s time for last call. The company also hints at special upcoming promos that will unfold over the next few weeks.
Drizly first launched in 2012, and after the buyout in 2021, the Drizly platform was integrated into the Uber Eats subsection of Uber, expanding Drizly’s operation to 1,400 cities across the U.S. and Canada. And though Drizly itself will shutter, reports suggest that the functions of service will likely just be further integrated into the UberEats app, so you’ll be able to order alcohol on the same platform as food.
“After three years of Drizly operating independently within the Uber family, we’ve decided to close the business and focus on our core Uber Eats strategy of helping consumers get almost anything — from food to groceries to alcohol — all on a single app,” Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber’s SVP of delivery, told Axios.
In addition to Uber’s overall effort to consolidate its services, reports have suggested that cybersecurity risks may have also played a role in the decision to close Drizly. In 2020, Drizly confirmed a hack that exposed the personal information of about 2.5 million users and after Uber acquired the company, the Federal trade Commission (FTC) discovered the flawed technology behind the app that failed to protect user data. The FTC proceeded to bring sanctions against the then-Drizly CEO James Cory Rellas and limited the type of consumer information that the app was permitted to collect and retain.
Though many are sad to see the Drizly app go, the new consolidated platform might make it easier than ever to pull off the perfect taco and Margarita night.
On Feb. 5, Uber announced that it plans to lay-off Drizly’s 168 employees beginning in April.
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