The craft beverage software leader expands platform with ERP depth, supply chain expertise, and a 2-year price freeze for Ekos users
Next Glass, the company behind Untappd, Ollie, Oznr, and more, has acquired Charlotte-based Ekos — a major move in the beverage software space that pairs two familiar names in brewery tech. Ekos is widely known for its production and inventory management platform used by more than 1,200 craft beverage producers across beer, wine, spirits, cider, and cannabis.
To kick off the transition, Next Glass announced it will freeze pricing for all existing Ekos customers for the next two years — a move aimed at offering relief amid rising operational costs.
“We are fortunate to be in a position to freeze prices for Ekos customers,” said Trace Smith, CEO of Next Glass. “Amidst persistent inflationary and supply chain pressures over the past several years, we want to be a good partner to the industry by providing pricing certainty and relief.”
This acquisition brings together two platforms already central to many breweries’ daily operations. Ekos is best known for its inventory and production tracking, sales and compliance reporting (including pre-built COGS and TTB reports), and integrations with VIP, QuickBooks, Xero, and Square. Meanwhile, Next Glass has built a wide-reaching ecosystem spanning brewery software (Ollie), B2B eCommerce (Ollie Order, Ekos Order Hub), menu management (Untappd for Business), and consumer engagement (Untappd, BeerAdvocate, Hop Culture).
What’s next for Ekos
The plan is to integrate Ekos’s B2B ordering and reporting tools with Ollie Order and Untappd for Business, creating a more seamless experience between production, ordering, sales, and payment — all within a single ERP platform. That backend unification will be led by Dustin Jeffers, VP of Brewery Product & Experience at Next Glass and a former brewer who has worked with both platforms.
“As a former Ekos user for several years as a brewer and now responsible for beverage production product at Next Glass, I’m excited to lead the charge to integrate the brewer-built intuitive and user-friendly interface our Ollie customers love with Ekos’s robust and comprehensive reporting, compliance, and ordering functionality,” Jeffers said.
Matt Downing, VP of Product at Ekos, noted that the combined team brings more than 180 years of direct experience in the brewing, wine, and distilling world — and they plan to put it to work building the next-gen craft ERP.
“We are excited to combine our experience, resources, and domain expertise to build for the future and to better serve craft beverage producers globally,” Downing said.
Ekos, founded in 2014, has long positioned itself as the smarter alternative to clipboards and spreadsheets, helping producers track raw materials, batches, keg counts, taxes, and more — all in one platform. Joining the broader Next Glass family should accelerate feature rollouts and provide a clearer path for connected commerce across producer and retailer networks.
“Their deep industry expertise and shared commitment to innovation make them the ideal partner,” said Kent Rowe, CEO of Ekos. “We’re proud of what we’ve built and look forward to what we’ll accomplish together.”
Stay tuned as the platforms start to merge and new functionality emerges. Until then, existing Ekos users can count on pricing stability and deeper investment ahead.
