South African craft beer manufacturer, Drifter Brewing Company, announced on Wednesday it has made history as the first company to raise R3 million on the crowdfunding platform Uprise.Africa.
The company said the R3 million was secured from 129 local investors.
The campaign still has 30 days before it closes and Drifter has opted to have the campaign run into overfunding by making more equity available and capping the total amount at R3.25 million.
Drifter plans to use the funds to purchase an automated bottling line that will allow them to rapidly increase production capacity and fill their demand for exports into the US, Europe and Asia and to up their production capacity and shelf life of their brew, Drifter is on a mission to turn their existing facility into a world class brewing hub.
They also plan to launch several Drifter bars that will serve their speciality brew nationwide.
In March SME South Africa reported that the craft beer startup had raised more than a million rand in growth capital within just a few hours of taking their equity crowdfunding round live.
Drifter is the brainchild of Nicholas Bush, who launched the company in early 2015. Some of their varieties include Stranded Coconut and The Cape Town Blonde. They are known to push boundaries by producing brews made from sea water and peanut butter.
The company is located in Woodstock Cape Town. According to a press release, the company holds a full force manufacturing facility as well as a tasting room and event space with stunning Table Mountain views.
They have also secured partnerships in the US to begin exporting to Texas, Florida and Washington DC and have formed relationships for future exports into Europe and Asia.
