Founder of Snooth launches a private fine wine sales site raises $ 3 million

Exclusive - buyers discerned wine leads. Philip James, who founded the main wine Snooth.com, sites has teamed with Kevin Fortuna entrepreneur to launch a private online sale club allows members to buy wine directly from their producers. Dubbed Lot18, the fledgling company landed just a $ 3 million series a round of financing led by company focused on the NYC VC FirstMark Capital.

The Tower also included returning (anonymous) investors and companies such as Quigo, Time Inc., AOL, Ziff Davis, Bankrate, Experian angels and follows a $500 seed round closed earlier this year.

Update: comments:

Dear TechCrunchers:

Please visit http://www.lot18.com/invite/techcrunch for an exclusive invitation to Lot18 (only 500 available!)

Andrew Nguyen
Operations Manager
Lot18.com

Obviously modelled after success stories sales - private .com and gilt Panel, the goal is to provide members with access to high quality, available in small quantities and limited series wines Lot18.

In the press release:

Producers are struggling to generate consumer recognition and many have not the pricing or negotiating power to ensure a good representation at the détail.Bien most wineries have websites to sell online, it is often difficult to engage new customers who have not heard speak, or tasted their wines.

After personal each product team Lot18 Lot18 pastors, reviews supply sourcing and presents the supply, sale and managed by establishing vinicole.Cela navigation allows producers to engage in new markets by insiders sales which highlight the winery passionate members across the country.

Lot18 launch partners include, obviously, Snooth.com and wineries such as stone angular Winery, Boisset Family Estates and Foley Family Estates.

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19 Year-old founder of Kiip firm 300 K Angel round for in-game mobile ad startup

We learned that Digger teen entrepreneur and former Brian Wong has just wrapped an Angel 300 k $ round for its game mobile ad startup Kiip. You discover first Wong when our own Mike Arrington wrote on 19 years being the youngest founder never receive investment.

Now Wong has accumulated an endless list of brands, investors including the True Ventures, CTO of SimpleGeo Joe Stump (in its first investment Angel), CMO Rohan Oza vitamin water, Doug Chertok PopChips CEO Keith Belling, Paige Craig in a series of financing private visibly Super Angel of usual suspects.

With funding, Wong announced that Kiip brings old Digger Courtney Guertin co-founder and Director technique and Amadeus Demarzi as co-founder and Director of the design. Wong plans on using money feel partnerships more hiring and distribution and of the Kiip walk in alpha in the coming months, with a public launch in January date.

Wong explains this desire to Kiip (prounounced "conserve" as in "Keep me") try to move "beyond the chain" and take advantage in the game elements without compromising the game ";We are the first product ad caterer for the mobile games space beyond the virtual goods and virtual money folks, [are] potentially our major competitors.»

It seems that Kiip could be a bright start, concurrence.Le still in stealth, already has of wranglin' five game publisher partnerships (Wong would not disclose those who) and currently has an audience of 2 million active users every month.

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