English gin distillery Sky Wave has exceeded its £100k crowdfunding target as it looks to fuel a global expansion.
The Oxfordshire distillery, which produces small batch, premium gin and vodka, has raised £115k in a round that values the company at £1.75m.
The booze brand has a national listing in Sainsbury’s and will use some of the money to strengthen its sales team.
The rest of the funding will support a European and worldwide expansion, boost its marketing, and “sustain ongoing operations”.
Sky Wave is particularly focused on building its exports into South America, Australia, Scandinavia and east Asia, it said.
The brand was founded in 2018 by former BBC news presenter Rachel Hicks and Andrew Parsons. In 2020, it was named the World’s Best Contemporary Gin at the World Gin Awards.
“We’re thrilled to have overfunded,” said Hicks. “It’s a testament to the strength of the brand and our vision for growth. We are only six years old and yet Sky Wave continues to make waves as we have done from the start.”
A previous crowdfunding round in 2022 raised over £200k for the design and manufacture of a new bottle. The packaging has enabled the brand to boost the bottle size by 40% while keeping the price increase to just 20%.
It comes amid a tough time for spirit makers in the UK as price rises and reduced drinking continues to affect sales. Duty increases of 10% on drinks over 22% abv in August 2023 have driven up the price of vodka and gin and contributed to spirits volumes falling 5.6% last year.
Bombay Sapphire owner Bacardí-Martini is one of those feeling the heat, with director Vincent Morel, saying last month there was a “general trend of [people] moving away from spirits and buying more beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks”.
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