Equity financing can be a valuable tool for independent breweries seeking sustainable growth and long-term success. It also enables valuable brand exposure and marketing for the brand whilst raising capital, just ask Stef Constantoulas co-founder of Philter Brewing.
The Philter Brewing raise of $2.2 million was the third biggest beer brewery raise in Australian history (and largest in 2023), the biggest raise by any NSW business this year, and the fourth largest equity crowdfunding raise of 2023. It followed on from two big independent brewing fund raises last year, Your Mates Brewery in 2022 with $2.5 million, followed by Black Hops with $2.2 million. NSW beer producer Philter Brewing has represented a win for Australian independent breweries, achieving one of the biggest equity crowdfunding raises of the year. Drinks Trade talks to co-founder Stef Constantoulas about why this is an important win for the Australian beer sector.
Why crowdfunding?
It’s an expensive industry. Particularly when you’re in growth. We have been quite fortunate to be in growth since we started. The more you grow, the more expensive it gets. The only way to help facilitate that growth is to take additional investment on board. What appealed to us about the crowdfunding was an opportunity to give some of the company back to the people who have supported us from day one. The other option is private investment, and the private investment side that we investigated just wanted to take so much of our company for a smaller amount. We didn’t want to lose control of our company. So, although crowdfunding has its challenges with opening yourself up to the world, we’re giving it back to the people who have supported us from day one. So, for us, it was a win-win.
Are you saying most of these investors are consumers of your product?
There’s a fair chunk, but I’m not naive enough to know that there are just general investors.
At least about half of the people on there are fans of Philter and family and friends. We’ve been very humbled going through the list of investors, seeing names we recognize, and just understanding how fortunate we are to have those people on board.
You know, a great example is on the last day we saw Newtown Jets invest in the brand, and it almost brought us to tears because we love supporting the community, and it was the community supporting us. It’s quite heartwarming.
Did the whole crowdfunding exercise raise awareness for your brand?
Yeah, definitely. Ultimately, you are pitching your business to consumers to invest in it. You need to show them what they’re investing in. And ultimately, that is Marketing 101. We saw people invest from Perth; for example, we don’t even have our beer in WA.
Is crowdfunding the start of a trend toward making the craft beer sector viable?
Listen, every business, if they’re looking to raise funds, should at least investigate whether this would suit them. And it’s not going to suit everyone. It all depends on that particular business’s needs at the time. It’s certainly not an easy experience, but it’s a viable way to give back to the consumer.
Is your crowdfunding success indicative of the Australian consumer wanting to support the craft brewer in a market controlled by beer giants?
Yeah, I think so. I hope so. We’ve been doing a lot to raise awareness of it. There’s still a massive job to be done. It’s still over 80 per cent consume beers from those two players. I’m well aware that the consumers’ financial position plays a massive part in beer decisions, and that’s where we need government intervention to give this very small portion of the industry, but a very important part of the industry, a little bit of a leg up so we can compete on a more even playing field with those boys. We need some good news. It is a tough time. It’s constantly reminding consumers that craft beer is here and worth paying more for.
This article appears in the latest print edition of Drinks Trade out now and on https://issuu.com/hipmedia9/docs/drinks_trade_89_summer_2023_24
