Oddbird is transforming the wine industry, proving that world-class wines can be just as sophisticated and celebratory without alcohol.
Founded in Sweden in 2013 by a former social worker who witnessed the impact of alcoholism on families firsthand, Oddbird was born from a desire to challenge the role of alcohol in modern culture.
Today, the brand stands as a pioneer in the dealcoholized wine movement, serving at several Michelin-starred restaurants, including Eleven Madison Park, and even partnering with Porsche in Sweden, where each new car is delivered with a bottle of Oddbird’s sparkling wine.
Joining his mother’s mission, Mehmet Gürbüzer now leads the company as CEO, turning her vision into a global brand.
Under his leadership, Oddbird has rapidly expanded across international markets, achieving 200% growth in the U.S. since launching late last year, selling over 7 million bottles annually, and generating nearly $30 million in revenue.
At the heart of Oddbird’s philosophy is the idea of being liberated from alcohol. The team partners with renowned vineyards across Italy, France, and Spain, hand-selecting high-quality varietals for natural fermentation.
Each wine is aged for 12–36 months before undergoing a patented vacuum-distillation process that gently removes the alcohol while preserving complexity, structure, and flavor.
Every bottle represents a meticulous four-to-five-year journey, a labor of love that celebrates craftsmanship, culture, and conscious living.
In this Founder Spotlight, we speak with Mehmet Gürbüzer, CEO of Oddbird, to explore how the brand started, the mission driving its growth, and how it’s quietly reshaping how we think about wine and wellbeing.
Q&A with Mehmet Gürbüzer, CEO of Oddbird
Q: Mehmet, Oddbird has such a personal origin story. Can you share how the idea first came to life?
A: Oddbird was born from my mother’s experience as a social worker and family therapist. She worked for almost 30 years with children and families who were negatively affected by alcohol.
She saw firsthand the detrimental effects that our drinking culture has on our society. Despite her three-decade-long career, her first and last day were the same, and she realized that she needed to create a structural change.
Oddbird became our way of changing that culture and, in turn, creating a better world for future generations.
Q: What is Oddbird’s mission, and how do you hope it influences the future of wine and culture?
A: Our mission is to create world-class wines — liberated from alcohol — and redefine what it means to celebrate. We’ve spent over 12 years perfecting our craft, and we now lead the world’s largest research consortium in dealcoholized wines.
We’re proud to be the only producer with sparkling wine from the Champagne region without alcohol, as well as the only brand making natural and orange wines without alcohol.
But our vision extends beyond production.
We want our wines to be accessible everywhere, from Michelin-starred restaurants to local grocery stores. Ultimately, we want to help people realize that great taste, conversation, and connection don’t come from alcohol — and they certainly don’t require it.
Q: Oddbird’s mission has a strong social and health impact. How do you see the company contributing to a healthier society?
A: Alcohol is the most harmful yet least questioned substance in the world. It kills more people than homicide, war, car accidents, and drug overdoses combined, according to the World Health Organization. Yet it remains deeply woven into our social fabric.
Our goal is to offer an alternative, one that removes risk while preserving experience. Even one glass of wine per day increases cancer risk and shortens life expectancy.
To make it concrete, if you have a group of five women who each drink seven glasses of wine a week, one of them will develop breast cancer.
We want to be part of changing that narrative.
Each bottle of Oddbird sold represents an occasion liberated from alcohol, a celebration that doesn’t come at the cost of one’s health.
Q: How does Oddbird’s business model support its rapid growth while maintaining its mission?
A: We’ve built a partnership-based model that prioritizes long-term collaboration and shared values. In each of the 20+ countries we operate in, we work closely with one exclusive importer who helps us develop strategy, tools, and activations to bring Oddbird into leading retailers, restaurants, and hotels.
This model ensures quality, consistency, and cultural alignment across markets.
It’s allowed us to scale sustainably, including our recent U.S. expansion, without compromising on craftsmanship or mission.
Q: The early years weren’t easy. How did Oddbird fund its growth before reaching global scale?
A: Oddbird was founded in 2013 and bootstrapped for the first 11 years. In the beginning, banks turned us down and investors weren’t interested, but a few small loans from friends who believed in our mission helped us get off the ground.
Most of our growth came from reinvesting revenue, and only in 2024 did we complete a small seed round to accelerate our U.S. expansion.
Staying independent allowed us to protect our values and grow at our own pace.
Q: What tools and technology help Oddbird operate globally and stay connected with customers?
A: We use Shopify to manage our website and online sales, which have been essential for making Oddbird accessible to consumers who care about quality and wellness.
For customer engagement, we use Klaviyo to manage relationships and communications within our growing B2C community.
Although we’re increasingly available in physical locations, from restaurants to luxury hotels, our digital infrastructure helps us build direct relationships with people who want to celebrate differently.
