BrewDog has launched its most ambitious project to date, attempting to raise £25 million through its record-breaking crowdfunding scheme Equity for Punks – more than five times the previous record set by the brewery in 2013.
This round of the UKLA-accredited investment scheme will see 526,316 shares in the brewery being made available for anyone to buy for a minimum investment of just £95 for two shares.
BrewDog previously raised £4.25 million in less than six months through Equity for Punks in 2013, making it the world’s most successful independent crowdfunding programme to date, but the new scheme is set to shatter that record and catapult independent crowdfunding into the mainstream.
The capital raised from investors all over the globe will be used to fund an expansion of the BrewDog brewery and its burgeoning international bar division, as well as launching new projects like a craft beer hotel, custom sour beer facility and distillation plant.
Growing from two men and a dog brewing with second-hand equipment in 2007, BrewDog is now Britain’s fastest-growing food and drinks brand, opening 27 bars worldwide since 2010, exporting to 55 countries and employing more than 360 staff.
It announced its sixth consecutive year of record growth earlier this month, having increased its annual turnover by a whopping 64 per cent to over £29.6million in 2014, compared with £18million in 2013. Its turnover is expected to exceed £50million this year and the company is yet to pay a penny for traditional advertising.
As well as owning part of the BrewDog business, Equity for Punks shareholders are also given benefits including a discount at BrewDog’s global network of craft beer bars, and at BrewDog.com and an invite to the brewery’s AGM.
Bypassing banks and brokers, the UKLA-accredited Equity for Punks scheme allows anyone to buy shares in the fast-growing craft brewery online at the click of a mouse. Shares cost £47.50 each, with a minimum investment of two shares (£95). Anyone keen to invest can purchase shares at www.brewdog.com/
The brewery would also use the money raised through the share sale to open new bars in the UK, and will be giving priority to opening new bars in locations with a high number of Equity Punk investors.
For the first time, BrewDog has also launched its Punk to Punk referral scheme offering those who invest the chance to earn extra rewards by encouraging their friends to invest. All new Equity Punks will receive a unique referral code to share with friends and family to give them rewards.
To mark the launch, BrewDog created a humorous video showing founders James Watt and Martin Dickie attempting to raise funds for expansion in a variety of ways including busking, jumble sales and even posing semi-naked in the window of its Aberdeen bar. Launched on social media today, the founders beg #DontMakeUsDoThis in an appeal for investment. View the full video here: https://vimeo.com/125433330
James Watt said: “The craft beer revolution has succeeded in redefining beer and Equity for Punks is redefining business finance. By making profit king, the financial institutions of the City gave rise to the bastardisation and commoditisation of beer.
“To grow BrewDog whilst being true to our values, we have had to build a whole new generation of business model. Equity for Punks puts the people who really care about our beer in control and keeps the passion and integrity in people’s beer glasses.
“We are not Rockefeller. We are Guy Fawkes. We are burning the established system — the status quo — down to the ground and forging a new future for business from the flames. We are putting the fat cats out to pasture and empowering everyone to be masters of their own destiny by investing in our passion for craft beer.”
