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Est. 2024DISTRYB Platform
DISTRYB
Founded by Ashton Bray · Decatur, IL
Serving: Illinois (Distribution), Nation-wide for Platform Services
The Story
DISTRYB is an AI-powered beverage technology company built to dismantle the barriers of the traditional three-tier distribution system. Born from a mission to create market access for independent and underrepresented brands, the platform connects manufacturers, distributors, and licensed retailers in a single, compliant marketplace.
For decades, beverage distribution has been defined by gatekeeping, fragmented phone calls, spreadsheets, and handshake deals. DISTRYB replaces this outdated model with a modern platform built securely on the three-tier compliance framework. From wholesale ordering and inventory management to pricing zones, tax filing, and real-time analytics, DISTRYB gives small producers the same enterprise-level tools that major conglomerates have had for years.
The ecosystem extends beyond distribution. Bottl.Service, DISTRYB's direct-to-consumer storefront, delivers wine, spirits, beer, and mead to doorsteps while giving brand owners full visibility into who is buying their products and where. Indulge Black History, a digital archive of over 134 Black-owned beverage brands, drives cultural awareness and consumer discovery back into the supply chain. Every platform is connected through DISTRYB.AI, creating a transparent loop from producer to shelf to glass.
Headquartered in Decatur, Illinois, a city with deep roots in American agriculture and manufacturing, DISTRYB is on a mission to make beverage distribution accessible, transparent, and equitable for every brand, regardless of size, background, or capital.
Ashton Bray
Founder
Ashton Bray is a software engineer and the founder of DISTRYB, a beverage technology platform built to level the playing field for independent brand owners and producers in the wine and spirits industry. With nearly seven years of experience at Braze, a leading customer engagement platform, Ashton developed deep expertise in building scalable, data-driven, and user-centric technology.
His entry into the wine and spirits industry began as a personal passion. While collecting Black-owned brands, Ashton recognized severe limitations in market access, a problem rooted in a 79-year gap between Prohibition's end in 1933 and the first Black American being legally licensed to craft and distill liquor in 2012. Determined to support these producers, he utilized his role as the acting leader of Braze's Black Employee Resource Group. In February 2023, he kicked off Black History Month by facilitating a globally streamed fireside chat with those very industry pioneers, Jackie Summers and Vanessa Braxton, intentionally sourcing their products alongside other Black-owned brands for Braze's American offices.
That conversation lit a fire. Ashton initially set out to build a platform specifically for Black-owned brands, using their unique challenges as his blueprint. But as he dug deeper into the three-tier distribution system, he uncovered a massive visibility gap plaguing the entire beverage industry: once manufacturers and brand owners sell to a distributor, they lose sight of their product. They rarely know which retailers carry their bottles or who the end consumers are, leaving their brand's success entirely at the mercy of the distributor.
To solve this disconnect and give brand owners their power and data back, Ashton created DISTRYB. He left New York City, returned to his hometown of Decatur, Illinois, and in September 2024 secured a warehouse and obtained his wholesale and import licenses, building the solution from the ground up, warehouse, licenses, and all.
Beyond the core platform, Ashton created Indulge Black History, a digital archive documenting over 134 Black-owned wine, spirits, beer, and mead brands and their contributions to the American beverage industry. He is also building Bottl.Service, a social commerce platform allowing users and industry professionals to earn commissions on user-generated content for wine and spirits. All of these platforms are seamlessly connected and powered by DISTRYB.AI, creating a transparent ecosystem that finally bridges the gap between brand owners, distributors, retailers, and consumers.
DISTRYB distributes through the DISTRYB platform.
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