All Access

Fintech Deals

Standard

Fintech Deals Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

Fintech Deals Alerts

Alert

mustard

BFD Expert Voices - Private Credit

BFD Expert Voices

Santé, a software and payments provider for wine and spirit retailers, raised a $15 million Series A, CEO Darren Fike tells Axios Pro exclusively.

The big picture: Investors are putting fresh capital behind liquor retail software.

How it works: Santé provides point-of-sale software alongside payments, e-commerce, marketing and employee management tools, as well as AI tools for inventory receiving, ordering and merchandising.

The company is also developing tools for theft monitoring, payroll and employee scheduling.

"There's more product to build that we can monetize," Fike says.

Follow the money: FINTOP Capital led the round, with participation from returning investors Bonfire Ventures, Operator Collective, Y Combinator and Veridical Ventures.

Fike says the company is putting capital primarily toward engineering and infrastructure, hiring engineers focused on AI and fintech specifically.

The round comes after Santé announced its $7.6 million seed in February 2026.

State of play: Global alcohol sales are projected to reach $4.3 trillion by 2034, up from $2.7 trillion this year, despite predictions that alcohol consumption will shrink over the next decade.

Zoom out: Others are raising too. Scotch, an AI operating system for liquor store owners, raised a $20 million Series A in June from VMG Partners, First Round Capital, Lerer Hippeau and Toba Capital.

What's next: Santé is launching an AI phone ordering product planned for the first quarter of 2027.

When asked about a potential exit, Fike says the company is focused on building a standalone business.

Exclusive: Santé raises $15M six months after seed round

Santé is adding new products across payments, AI and store operations.

Illustration of a wine bottle with a hundred dollar bill as the label. 

Santé, a software and payments provider for wine and spirit retailers, raised a $15 million Series A, CEO Darren Fike tells Axios Pro exclusively.The big picture: Investors are putting fresh capital behind liquor retail software.

topics

politics-policy

epstein-files

donald-trump

2026-midterm-elections

immigration

behind-the-curtain

race-and-equity

technology

privacy-tech-regulation

automation-and-ai

tiktok-news

big-tech

social-media

cybersecurity

economy

social-security

inflation

tariffs

federal-reserve

transportation

business

c-suite

retail-news

media

elon-musk

dealmaking

health

rfk-jr

drug-prices

axios-explains-abortion

public-health

world

israel

axios-explains-ukraine

iran

russia

china

energy-climate

nuclear-energy

climate-energy-policy

climate-change

extreme-weather

alternative-energy

electric-vehicles

science

emerging-tech

biomedicine

newsletters

charlotte

salt-lake-city

denver

fort-lauderdale

cincinnati

scottsdale

boulder

kansas-city

austin

chicago

dallas

detroit

atlanta

indianapolis

nashville

nw-arkansas

columbus

hollywood

washington-dc

north-of-cincy

mesa

richmond

san-francisco

boston

des-moines

houston

phoenix

miami

philadelphia

seattle

new-orleans

colorado-springs

huntsville

raleigh

san-antonio

twin-cities

pittsburgh

san-diego

tampa-bay

portland

cleveland

arapahoe

douglas

axios-local

axios-pro

axios-live

the-axios-show

Exclusive: Santé raises $15M six months after seed round

What to read next