Brewdog closes ‘world’s most successful’ crowdfunding raise with £26m

0 Community is ‘lifeblood’ to us, says founder James Watt Independent craft beer maker Brewdog has closed a record crowdfunding round, despite falling well short of its revised £50 million target.

The Ellon-based brewer is calling its fifth investment drive, which closed yesterday, “the world’s most successful equity crowdfunding raise” after it brought in £26.2m.

Brewdog launched the raise in October last year with an original target of £10m, which it achieved within the first 90 days. In January, the brewer extended the investment deadline to October and quadrupled the target to £50m, which it missed by around £24m.

Some 50,000 people invested in the crowdfunding drive, called “Equity for Punks V”, bringing the total number of shareholders across the firm’s five fundraising rounds to 94,000.

Brewdog said it will use the money to expand its breweries in Aberdeen and Columbus, Ohio, as well as to accelerate the construction of its new facility in Brisbane, Australia. It has also unveiled plans to build a brewery in China.

Co-founder James Watt said: “Equity for Punks V is the most successful equity crowdfunding round the world has ever seen, and we’re thrilled to have expanded our awesome global community, which is the lifeblood of our business.

“The craft beer revolution shows no sign of slowing down, with thousands more joining the Brewdog fold and demonstrating their support for a business built on passion and soul.”

Last week, the brewery released its “Brewdog Blueprint”, outlining its ambitious plans for the next decade.

This included more than 30 “exciting new initiatives”, one of which is The Hop Hub, a new distribution centre near Glasgow that it says is set to be Europe’s first fully refrigerated beer warehouse.