Famed Scottish brewery, BrewDog, has now closed the fourth round of its game-changing crowdfunding scheme, Equity for Punks, with a massive £19m under its belt. Expansion plans, such as the craft beer themed hotel it has proposed, are now looking to go ahead.
Founders of the fiercely independent craft brewery, James Watt and Martin Dickie, kicked off the innovative business model in 2009 as a way to scale up without relying on faceless suits at the bank.
After a successful first three rounds of crowdfunding, the fourth has broken records along the way, being the first crowdfunding scheme to raise over £5m in under three weeks, the most money taken through crowdfunding of any other business on record overall, and the first time a company has offered equity in tandem with bonds.
BrewDog is now supported by a 42,000 strong army of Equity Punks, a group of fans evangelical about craft beer.
“It was a risk creating a whole new business model back in 2009, but we’re all about taking risks to make sure we’re doing things our way, the punk way, and not bowing to stuffy industry formality,” says James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog. “It’s paid off, and we’re psyched with the results of Equity for Punks IV. No other company would be bold enough to set the bar this high.
“We’ll be ploughing the money raised into expansion across the Atlantic and pioneering new projects here in the UK. We can’t wait to launch Lone Wolf and our sour facility in Ellon, and we have some mega new cathedrals of craft on the way.
“Our shareholders are the absolute beating heart of our business, launching Equity for Punks was the best decision we ever made. We’ve turned more than 42,000 people into passionate brand ambassadors, and raised enough money to keep the momentum of the craft uprising going in the process. It’s a slam dunk for us and for the craft beer industry.”
Recently named the tenth fastest growing company in the UK with a 3-year annual profit growth of 120%, BrewDog now has 43 bars and BottleDogs globally, employs 540 people, exports to 55 countries, and brewed 65 beers in the last year alone.
