East London Liquor Company raises £1m in four days

By Lisa Riley

Published: 10 May, 2018

The East London Liquor Company has raised over £1 million from over 600 investors during its crowdfunding campaign in just four days of the public funding opening.

The campaign, which set out to raise £750,000 with Crowdcube, exceeded its initial target within 24 hours. Founder of the company Alex Wolpert has said that the campaign will remain open with a new target of £1.5 million.

The distillery produces and imports a range of spirits at its site in Bow, east London. It already exports to 20 markets, including Japan, Germany, Australia and Sweden.

The funds raised will be used to increase English whisky production and grow domestic sales channels, in addition to expanding global sales opportunities in emerging markets such as China.

The company, brainchild of entrepreneur and ex-bartender, Alex Wolpert, who was frustrated by the lack of “honestly-priced” spirits in the market place, said it also has plans to launch in New York and Toronto before the end of 2018.

Since the company was set up in 2014, East London Liquor Company has sold 327,764 bottles of spirits in the UK, delivering £4.25 million in sales revenue.

“The response to our campaign has been overwhelming, we’re truly humbled by the support that we have received, with investments ranging from £10 right up to £175,000,” said Wolpert.

“With such fantastic support, we have taken the decision to continue the campaign to honour ongoing conversations with potential investors, and give more people the opportunity to join in. We will be closing our campaign at £1.5 million, so this is your last chance to invest.”

East London Liquor Company is currently valued at £15 million and will with funds raised build annual bottle sales to 46,000 9L cases (592,000 bottles) in 2022, delivering sales revenue of £9.8m.

The company’s five-year plan forecasts a total of 1.8 million bottle sales over that period driven by 30% year-on-year growth. Total sales revenues for the five-year period is estimated be £28.7 million.

Sales in 2017 totalled £2.95 million (net loss £300k).

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