Renaissance brews plan for another crowdfunding round
A year after raising $700,000 Renaissance Brewing is planning a second round of crowdfunding to grow its export markets.
Renaissance Brewing development manager Roger Kerrison said in about a year the Marlborough craft brewer would look to raise a similar amount to fund sales representatives in export markets.
The money would also be used to either grow capacity at its existing Blenheim site or relocate to a new, custom built brewery in Marlborough, he said.
In the first crowdfunding round, Renaissance sold 350,000 shares, or about 12.3 per cent of the company, in August at $2 a share.
About 300 investors bought into the company.
Chief executive Brian Thiel said crowdfunding provided the company with the ‘‘shot in the arm we required to get things cranking’’.
In the year to March 31 the company posted a profit after tax of $82,000 with revenue of $1.84 million.
Over the next two years Thiel expected results to exceed guidance that was given to investors.
‘‘It is sustainable and, more importantly, achievable growth for us,’’ Thiel said.
Kerrison said the first funding round allowed the company to invest in new equipment including kegs and tanks, increasing the brewery capacity from 400,000 litres a year to 800,000 litres a year.
The brewery produced about 400,000 litres of beer in the past 12 months and began exporting to Finland, Japan, Switzerland and Quebec, Canada taking its total export markets to 10.
The company paid no dividend to investors with profits being reinvested into the company.
Kerrison said since the crowdfunding there had been a small number of shares sold through private sales but he did not know their sale value.