Untappd potential.

• Author: Maurer, Kevin
• Position: NCTREND: Eastern Region

While the inspiration for Next Glass came from a $90 bottle of wine, it's the humble workman's friend that is propelling the company's growth. The Wilmington startup is shifting its focus from wine to beer after its acquisition of Untappd, an app that combines social media and e-commerce to create a community of beer drinkers and businesses.

Next Glass was started in 2012 by a group led by CEO Kurt Taylor, who got the idea for the business after being disappointed with a pricey wine chosen by a restaurant sommelier. Working as an analyst for Charlotte-based investment bank Fennebresque & Co., he decided to start his own company, and with the help of his father, George Taylor, the company's chairman, he secured financing from about 50 investors. The app's software uses science and algorithms to provide wine and beer recommendations based on the chemistry of taste. The Next Glass app launched in November 2014 and got half a million downloads in the first month.

Taylor, 27, doesn't disclose financial terms of the January 2016 merger with California-based Untappd, which has more than 4 million users, but says the acquisition was part of Next Glass' strategy of expanding its customer base with an eye toward building new revenue streams. Beer is a $252 billion industry, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Beer Institute, a trade group. In North Carolina alone, the industry accounts for $7 billion in total economic impact and supports more than 47,000 jobs. Daniel Hartis, digital manager at All About Beer magazine in Durham, says the Untappd app taps into the culture of "beer ticking" by helping users create lists of beers they want to try and providing a way to track their progress.

"Beer culture in general likes to share what they're drinking," Hartis says, and Untappd helps build that community. The app rewards users with badges for achievements such as trying different beer styles or drinking beers from...