How a clever brewery used crowdfunding to raise a lot of money

In response to reactions to my tweet about the crowdfunding
efforts of innovative Scottish brewery Brewdog,

here's a piece about them from Crowdfund Insider

 

BrewDog Crowdfunds
Equity of £3 Million out of
£4 Million Target with Months Remaining

 

 inShare3 

September 3, 2013 @ 9:22 am By JD Alois

In just over two months
Scottish brewery BrewDog
has raised £3 Million on
Goal of £4 Million.  Crowdfunding Round
Closes in January.

Craft brewery BrewDog started in 2007 with just
2 employees and a dream.  The firm was driven by two
young fearless entrepreneurs determined to create a
different type of company.  A brewery that “shortens
as much as possible” the distance between themselves
and the people who love their beer.  As the “Ultimate
Incarnation” of their philosophy they created “Equity for
Punks” – an opportunity for their fans and supporters to
purchase shares in their brewery and aid in the growth.

Brewdog has crowdfunded equity several times in their brief history.  This initial round of crowdfunding was announced in June 2013.  In 2010 they crowdfunded an over subscribed issue and captured the interest of over 6000 investors.  This equity crowdfunding offering is also a bit of a hybrid has it combines rewards with ownership.  Sharepurchase allows the holder to benefit from a lifetime discount in all of the BrewDog bars of 5% and a 10% discount for their online shop.  Not too bad if  y0u love their product.  There are additional perks available as well.

The Equity for Punks current offer is for 42,105 shares
at a price of £95 per share.  The shares are unlisted and
do not presently trade on any exchange.  BrewDog hosts
the transactional portion of the offering on
Computershare Limited which is authorised and
regulated by the FCA.   This “third wave” of shares
represents 3.6% ownership in the growing company.

In 2012 they generated £10.5 Million in revenue with a net
income of £486,000.  They expect to generate £20 Million
in revenue for 2013.  With an average annual growth rate
of 167% you can understand why people are interested
in this craft brewery.  It’s not just the great beer but the
phenomenal growth.

BrewDog markets themselves as the fastest growing
food and drink manufacturer in the UK in the past 3 years.  
The company has also opened 11 BrewDog bars scattered
across the UK and one in Stockholm.  They already have
plans in place to go international.  Openings are being
planned in Brussels, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, and New Delhi in
the next 12 months.  No word on a possible opening in
the United States.

BrewDog has charted a radical new way in raising capital.
Crowdfunding platforms were just firing up in the United
Kingdom when they decided to go on their own.  An
innovative business and effective management creates a
compelling investment opportunity not just for wealthy 5%,
but for anyone who wants to share in the benefits (and risk)
of investing in a growth company.  Crowdfunding is the
democratization on investment opportunities.

There is a telling quote in their prospectus:

“Here’s to the crazy ones.  The Rebels.  The  

troublemakers.  The ones who see things differently.  

Because the people who are crazy enough to think

they can change the world, are the ones that do.”  

(Steve Jobs)

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