Garage Beer, a Barcelona based craft brewery, has closed their equity crowdfunding round on Crowdcube Spain having raised €500,000 with the support to 228 investors.
According to information provided by Crowdcube, 90% of the investments were under €1,000 with many being current Brewer Garage customers. Investors were also given additional perks for participating in the funding round.
Garage Beer originally attempted to raise funding from banks but the founders stated they knew they preferred involving their own customers in raising capital.
Founded by Alberto Zamborlin and James Welsh, the duo opened their first craft beer bar in Barcelona in January 2015. Welsh and Zamborlin state that one month later they began to export abroad, and by the following June their turnover covered all expenses. Garage Beer produces beer for restaurants and bars and also serves it in its own establishment.
el team garage des de la nova fàbrica. aviat us volem a tots aquí #garagers #brewery pic.twitter.com/sIz2fgmh4b
— garage beer co. (@GarageBeerCo) May 18, 2016
Garage says it has achieved a prominent position on the Catalan and Spanish brewing market and currently exports to Scandinavia, Italy, the USA and the UK, among other countries. In its first year of operation, Garage entered into partnerships with popular international and domestic brewers such as Other Half Brewing (Brooklyn) or Stillwater Artisanal Ales (Baltimore, Maryland), and its beer has been ranked 1st by Untappd (equivalent to the TripAdvisor of beers). Garage produced the official beer of the Barcelona Beer Festival 2016.
The additional capital will allow Garage Beer to open a new production facility and to increase sales across Spain and other European markets.
Zamborlin explains;
“we opened this round to the public to prevent putting our dream in the hands of Banks or large investors and to involve customers and friends, as they have been supporting the project from the beginning”.
Garage Beer joins a growing number of craft breweries that have raised growth capital via investment crowdfunding. Probably the best known example is the BrewDogs Equity for Punks project that is expected to cross the Atlantic and offer shares in the US soon.
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