Scotch whisky and gin producer GlenWyvis Distillery is looking to raise £2m ($2.4m) through social funding platform Crowdfunder.
In its latest crowdfunding move, GlenWyvis Distillery has set an initial goal of £500,000 with an additional stretch target of £2m. As of today (18 April), it had raised £20,600.
The company said the capital will be used to obtain extra warehouse capacity and increase production from five mashs to nine a week. The distiller is looking to raise its annual capacity from 43,130 litres of absolute alcohol to 77,700 by the beginning of 2025.
In a business plan published last month, GlenWyvis Distillery said it wants to increase capacity and secure its business operation through investment of £2.75m.
“We need to raise additional funds through a combination of new bonds and shares because even at five mashes a week (baseline), the distillery does not have the capability to earn enough from sales to fund its stockpiling programme, cover its overheads and service its finance,” GlenWyvis Distillery outlined.
GlenWyvis Distillery is aiming to raise £2.75m by 2027. The strategy is to make £2m by issuing new shares in the company through its latest crowdfunding effort and an additional £0.75m from bonds sold to its members.
The latest round of crowdfunding is open until 31 December. Shareholders only get one vote in the company irrespective of the value of shares they own. The investment is described as a “social investment” that gives shareholders value back through product discounts and club offers.
GlenWyvis Distillery has 3,625 members and has raised £3.73m in capital through its “share offers” since it was founded in 2015.
The distiller launched its first whisky in 2021. The group expects to bottle 10-year-old whiskies by 2029.
GlenWyvis Distillery is also working with the local authorities through the Dingwall Community Development Co. to build a visitor centre in the town, as well as a “low-volume bottling plant”.
Its sales revenue for the year ended 31 December 2023 was £527,885. It made a net profit of £4,962. In 2021, GlenWyvis Distillery had forecast annual sales revenue of £2.5m by the year 2029 but it has now slashed that forecast to roughly £1m in its 2024 business plan.
The distiller also makes and sells the gin brand Goodwill. The group had forecast Goodwill would have sales of £250,000 annually in 2021 but the company now expects the brand to bring in “less than” £30,000 annually in 2029.
“While the distillery is in the whisky stockpiling phase of its development, more money is being poured into casks than is generated in sales revenue,” GlenWyvis Distillery noted in its business plan.
