Chapel Down trebles beer funding drive

Chapel Down is more than trebling the fundraising target of its beer and cider business to £3.65m, after smashing the original £1m target in less than two months.

Curious Drinks, the English wine producer’s beer and cider business, has now raised £655,300 through its second crowdfunding campaign this year, which was was launched on 21^st October via Seedrs. The revised offer will remain open on Seedrs ntil February 2016, and take the crowdfunding to its maximum, the company said.

A further £345,000 was raised through share placing, which saw around 80% (£275,000) raised through the management team and directors of Curious Drinks and Chapel Down.

So far the fundraising has attracted 529 new investors, with around a third coming from Kent, where the vineyard and winery are based. This demonstrated the significant interest from the local community, the company said.

The investment will be used to build a new brewery and visitor attraction in a new plot in Ashford that is set to open by December 2016. This will allow it to consolidate production and bottling, which will enhance Curious Drinks’ efficiency and boost margins, it said. It also intends to boost the beer and cider team in order to broaden its international and domestic sales and routes to market.

Investors will own shares in Curious Drinks, with various incentives offered for different levels of investment, including brewery tours, limited edition cases of beer and the chance to have their name etched onto a fermentation tank.

CEO Frazer Thompson said he was “truly humbled” by the “phenomenal” response it had seen in such a short time.

“We have seen a huge amount of interest from both customers and individual investors. We believe this is testament to the fact that these are not only great beers and cider but also a worthy investment opportunity, and we hope to welcome many more shareholders to Curious Drinks in the coming months,” he said.

In September, the company reported that sales of beer and cider were up 33% to £974k, with its portfolio gaining momentum in the premium off trade.

Earlier this year the producer smashed a £1.6m fundraising target to boost its wine and beer business with a new winery and brewery by raising £2.9 million from investors in just 10 days. The drive also broke Seedrs own record for the amount of money raised in a single project