Craft beer start-up Shandy Shack has closed its latest six-figure funding round to help maintain rapid growth in its retail channel.
The business will use the £235,000 raised from a group of angel investors to grow its team, including the recruitment of a brand manager joining from Graze in June, support listings with Sainsbury’s and to expand the direct-to-consumer operation.
It follows an earlier six-figure fundraising in 2021.
Friends Ed Stapleton, Tom Stevens and Freddie Gleadowe founded Shandy Shack in 2018 as a pop-up bar concept to be toured around festivals. However, the business was forced to pivot during the pandemic and launched as a brand into fmcg.
Its two-strong range of low-alcohol, low-calorie shandies – made by mixing natural sodas with craft beer – is now listed in Sainsbury’s following a trial as part of the supermarket’s Taste of the Future programme.
The business also won distribution with wholesalers such as Matthew Clark Wholesale, Nectar and, most recently, Unity Wines & Spirits, which is part of Bidfood.
Sales have grown rapidly off the back of its ‘summer of shandy’ PR campaign last year, with the business forecasting revenues hitting seven figures in 2022.
Co-founder Ed Stapleton said the past 12 months had seen “an explosion” of interest for the shandy category.
“It’s tremendously exciting to be leading the revival of this category and we still feel like we’re at the tip of the iceberg from a brand/marketing perspective,” he added.
“This latest round of funding will allow us to continue bringing our vision to life and to develop the foundations that we’ve laid with the brand so far.”
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