Andrew Merinoff - DisPact Ventures: Disrupting Industries Through Impact Investing

11/09/22 • 30 min

Three Tier is hosted by Jacob Gluck and Taylor Foxman.
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ANDREW MERINOFF is the Founder of DisPact Ventures.

A seasoned industry leader and advisor, Andrew Merinoff has spent his career building and refining his skills as a growth strategist and brand development expert. Merinoff’s extensive experience spans multiple sectors and industries, most notably in F&B, Wine & Spirits, Hospitality, Investing, and Marketing.

Merinoff founded DisPact Ventures in 2015 with the goal of disrupting industries with impact investing. What started off as a small fund to assist his close friends and confidants eventually grew into a 16 venture portfolio. Currently, the portfolio companies have operations in 12 countries with visibility in over 60. The most recent success stems from SevenRooms which raised $50M in April 2020 at a $250M pre-money valuation. DisPact maintains ownership of the company whose co-investors are AMEX, Amazon Ventures, MGM Grand, Comcast Ventures, and many others.
Most recently, Merinoff worked to develop intuitive spirit branding for premium spirits importer Proximo Spirits, where his focus centered around creating added value and brand development for the company’s current portfolio.
Along with brand development, Merinoff was also responsible for developing a complete greenfield product, from creating the liquid to building the overall business, visitor experience, four separate restaurants and bars, and a distillery in Manhattan.
Merinoff’s passion for building companies, particularly in the Wine & Spirits space, has led him to invest in disruptive spirits brands ranging from the world’s first-ever shelf-stable fresh fruit liqueur, called Chinola Passion Fruit Liqueur (which he co-founded), a rum called Coconut Cartel in Guatemala, a distillery in Copenhagen run by two Ex-Noma founders, a brand development distillery and innovation lab in Long Island, as well as an RTD, called The Long Drink, which is on track to reach $40M in their third year and currently holds some of the largest stocks of premium Japanese whiskey and Sochu in the world (launching in 2021).
Investment firms ASM Ventures LLC and Tequity: Capitol and Communications were founded when Merinoff was in college. He began using his skills as an industry disruptor and innovator to develop market strategies and advise on business plans, networking, key needs, priorities, and efficiencies. He co-founded these companies and collectively raised over $25M in funding and exited several companies to various entities including Fortune 500’s before graduating and moving back into the food and beverage industry.

Three Tier is hosted by Jacob Gluck and Taylor Foxman.
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ANDREW MERINOFF is the Founder of DisPact Ventures.

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Mike Solow - 99 Proof Partners - Craft Spirits Investment Firm

Three Tier is hosted by Jacob Gluck and Taylor Foxman.
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Mike Solow is a Partner at 99 Proof.
99 Proof Partners (“99 Proof”) is an investment firm that organizes and manages investments in the craft spirits space. We work with individuals and family offices that desire to invest in private deals for exceptional returns without the high fees and infrastructure costs often associated with traditional private equity funds.
99 Proof organizes and manages direct investments in early stage, growth stage, and established businesses with high-caliber teams, attractive valuations, clear growth paths, and lucrative exit opportunities.

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Nick Scarff - Next Century Spirits: Enhancing Spirits via Tradition & Technology

Three Tier is hosted by Jacob Gluck and Taylor Foxman.
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Nick Scarff is the Master Blender and VP of Business Development at Next Century Spirits.
Established in Raleigh, NC in 2018, Next Century Spirits blends together traditional techniques and unique finishing technologies to create enhanced distilled spirits. Our patented post distillation filtering and finishing technology creates a tool for the traditional distiller to expand their repertoire of achievable flavors and aromas while improving quality, maintaining consistency, and reducing supply chain issues. This technology allows for tight control over the entire production process, resulting in the ability to create bold and unique flavor customization options for brands to choose from in order to expand product portfolios and fulfill market needs.