On Friday 16th our Crowdfunding Campaign went publicly live! With the support of our closest community, we came to the table over 40% funded and we now ask the greater beer and business loving the community, in the UK and across the world, to invest in Anspach & Hobday.
Why are we fundraising?
Well the problem is that we can not keep up with demand for our beer, in October alone we experience 87% revenue growth on last year and we simply cannot fulfill our potential without expanding. As anyone who has visited us will know, our site is full. Scaling production whether in our current site or elsewhere will require a considerable investment in equipment and setup. By setting up production at a second location we leave the opportunity to renovate our current site into a wild beer production site and a renovated tap-room! All of these measure will allow us to raise our sales and profitability.
What’s in it for investors?
The fundraiser is for equity in the company. It is for the same class of ordinary shares that Paul and I have, it is the same offer for new investors and current shareholders alike. On top of the prospect of owning part of our company, you will having voting rights, the right to a dividend if one is offered, an equitable share in value in the event of any sale of the company and pride in owning some of the pint you are drinking. There are also some pretty heroic rewards that are available for investors: from discounts at our tap-room, to getting your likeness immortalised on a new beer label, to joining Paul and me for a Bermondsey mile tour run by UK Brewery Tours, to even brewing a beer with us with proceeds going to a charity of your choice. It’s a full bundle!
Importantly, the business has received advance assurance that we are EIS Tax relief eligible. EIS is a government tax relief scheme that mitigates some of the risks of investing in small private limited company such as Anspach & Hobday.
So why are we crowdfunding and not going to a bank or a VC fund?
We believe, as I think many crowdfunding breweries do, that the best-placed investors and owners of our company are those who love our beer. And as I write this is It’s a real delight to see that that number is already over 140 investors. Those 140 back our plan to grow our business and we are chomping at the bit to deliver for them.
Crowdfunding, like craft beer, is a revolution and an antidote to homogenisation and disconnected globalisation. This is the final step away from feudalism. There are no multinational corporations here, nor Lords and Ladies, just owners, workers and drinkers.
The tripling of our capacity and the expansion of our retail business is another small step in the UK craft beer revolution. Join us and invest in Anspach & Hobday!