BrewDog has opened the latest American round of its equity crowdfunding initiative, Equity for Punks. With a goal of raising $10 million (£7.5 million), the brewer made the announcement with characteristic BrewDog bombast, by parachuting taxidermy ‘fat cats’ from a helicopter above Manhattan.
Intended as ‘anti-propaganda propaganda’, the former cats openly mock the caricature of the Wall Street fat cat banker, with pinstripe suits and bloated bellies, parodying the image of the greedy investment banker that BrewDog rails against.
Each of the dropped cats carried a brochure containing details of the equity share offering. Thrown from the skies by co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie, dozens of the guerrilla felines parachuted into the bustling city below.
This launch is the second round of Equity for Punks USA, following the brewer’s first round in 2016, which raised more than $7 million before closing last July. BrewDog aims to raise $10 million in round two, as it continues to expand its footprint in the United States.
From its state-of-the-art brewery in Columbus, Ohio, BrewDog has been rolling out its craft beer revolution across America, and the beer is now distributed widely across seven states: Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois.
The brewery currently has three bars in Columbus, with many more aiming to launch in the next 12 months. In cities where BrewDog sees more than 500 people investing in Equity for Punks USA, the brewer will endeavor to open a BrewPub in that city within the next 18 months.
In this round, BrewDog is making 800,000 shares of common stock in BrewDog USA Inc available, at a price of $50 per share. Funds will support BrewDog’s stateside growth, with plans to potentially include new bars in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Cleveland.
Unique benefits
The company will also be using funds to expand its Columbus brewery, including a new events venue, developing a sour beer facility, and an automated keg line to help it meet demand for production.
Every Equity for Punks USA investor will receive a wealth of unique benefits and rewards, including 5% discount in any of the 50 BrewDog bars worldwide and a 10% discount for its US online store. It will also offer 10% discount on rooms at DogHouse, the world’s first crowdfunded craft beer hotel, which is set to open on site at the brewery in Ohio in late Summer.
In addition to a wealth of other benefits, American Equity Punks will receive an invitation to BrewDog’s legendary US AGM in Columbus, featuring music, food and beer from BrewDog and its favourite breweries from around the world.
BrewDog will also be offering further tiered benefits for Equity Punks who invest more, with additional benefits available from just $100. Extra perks include subscriptions to BrewDog’s upcoming digital TV network (of which more information is due to be released later in 2018), and unique experiences such as brewing your own beer at the Columbus brewery, and free beer for a year.
For those who invest more than $50,000, the brewery will ‘BrewDog your house’, creating a fully-functioning BrewDog bar in your home.
James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog, said: “For too long, the fat cats of Wall Street have ruled the financial system, with power and wealth sitting with a privileged few. We are raining down on that tired financial system from above with our feline anti-propaganda propaganda, to shake up the status quo and show the people of America that there is another way. Crowdfunding can no longer be viewed as alternative finance; this is the democratisation of finance.
“Community has always been at the heart of Equity for Punks. Without our 80,000 maverick Equity Punks, we would never be where we are today. With the launch of Equity for Punks USA, we want to invite thousands more beer fans to join us on our collective mission to make other people as passionate about craft beer as we are.”
