Crowdfunding Deal Focus: Kamm & Sons Ginseng Spirit

Here is an interesting crowdfund pitch I recently stumbled across.  Discoverd on the successful equity crowdfunding platform CrowdCube based in the UK, this offering comes from Kammerling’s Investment Holdings LTD.

The offering details are as follows:

Investment Target of £ 325,000

Equity Offered 20%

As of today:  £ 298,660 raised from 43 investors at 92% of target.

Incorporated in 2011 Kammerlings, now branded Kamm & Sons, successfully funded their initial round on capital via Crowdcube and now they are back for round two. Their main product is a Ginseng based beverage containing 33% alcohol by volume.  Packaged in a medicinal style bottle this is a play on targeting more health conscious consumers.  Ginseng and alcohol certainly sounds like a  perfect match.  The concoction is described as:

…sits between gin, bitters and liqueurs, and uses 45 different botanicals including four types of ginseng, fresh grapefruit peels, juniper berries, manuka honey, goji berries and echinacea. It can be served neat over ice, with different mixers or used to make a range of cocktails.

The beverage is already available in over 160 hotels and bars which includes a rather illustrious list like, The Savoy, The Connaught and Soho House.  Kammerling has already secured import agreements for distribution in Spain.  Inquiries have followed from the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Italy and China.

Sounds like the product is on the path to success and prosperity.  The one item which quickly caught my eye was the trajectory of the investments by the 43 investors.  This round of funding commenced this fall in mid October climbing at a rather tepid trajectory.  On December 3rd, the gods of finance took another look and there was a significant leap in funding secured.

Digging deeper into the details of the event there is a posting on December 6th which clarifies the change in luck:

 

For the last few weeks we have been in discussion with a syndicate of investors. This syndicate comprises a number of people from the banking community but also includes a top-ranked beverages analyst working for one of the world’s leading investment banks who will offer informal strategic guidance and insight into – and contacts within – the drinks industry that we would not easily have otherwise. We are absolutely delighted that they have offered the company £225k. We should point out that this investment was secured at a lower valuation than represented on the Crowdcube pitch due to the added value that the investors bring in terms of contacts, experience and the size of the investment in the business. We are also in talks with another large syndicate which we hope will take us to the full asking amount (and possibly over). We hope to hear about this within the next week, so we strongly advise anyone who is still interested in investing to do so before the pitch suddenly closes!

In lieu of insufficient individuals providing funds,  management took the path of approaching a group of investors to achieve (or nearly)  their goal.   This syndicate approach, which i do not believe has been discussed here in the United States, appears to be a natural step in achieving their goal.  While the individuals end up paying a higher valuation the project is now more likely to be a success.  Perhaps the Yanks can learn a thing or two from our British friends?

I would like to also comment on the efficacy of the CrowdCube site.  While having not personally financed a project to date I must admit the transparency and degree of documentation is admirable.  Many of the corporate documents are available as PDFs for downloading and review.

So best of luck to Alex Kammerling and his venture Kamm & Sons.  Alex received more positive news in November having been nominated by the Evening Standard as one of the 1000 Most Influential People in London (under Scenesters / Drinkers!).  Also product is now being sold at the ever hip Conran Shop.  If you are interested Alex himself will be at Conran’s on December 17th and 18th serving Christmas cocktails.  Trip to London perhaps?