Sustainable wine start-up When in Rome has returned to the crowd to raise an additional £400k to support its growing retail listings in the UK as demand picks up for more environmentally friendly packaging in the category.
The company closed the round on the Crowdcube platform at a £7m valuation having raised almost £425k from 272 investors.
Its range of wines in bags, can and paper bottles are stocked by Waitrose and Ocado, with a new upcoming listing agreed with Sainsbury’s, as well as wholesale supplier Enotria & Coe.
As well as supporting its listings, When in Rome plans to use the money to expand overseas into two new Asian markets, Japan and Taiwan, to sit alongside its exports to Canada, Norway and Hong Kong.
Rob Malin, who co-founded the business in 2015 with Andrea Marchesi and Lorenzo Canali, said: “Though the fundraising environment is undeniably more challenging, our growing presence in UK supermarkets – most notably our paper bottles in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose’s decision to replace small glass bottles with our cans – has only strengthened the investment case.
“If premium wine brands focused on sustainability can thrive even in a cost-of-living crisis, it means we’re here to stay.”
When in Rome previously raised just more than £500k from the crowd in December 2021 to support its paper bottling innovation.
The paper wine bottle, made using 94% recycled paper, launched into Ocado in April last year.
The company also benefitted last month when Waitrose announced it was switching its small glass bottle for canned wine.
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