Naked Life raises $3 million in equity crowdfunding — the largest ever for a food and beverage venture

Australian-owned and made non-alcoholic brand Naked Life Non-Alcoholic Spirits has smashed previous records and given Australian investors their first opportunity to own a slice of the company, after setting a new record for the largest food and beverage equity crowdfunding raise in Australia when it reached $3 million on equity crowdfunding platform Birchal.

The non-alcoholic cocktail brand, which was founded in 2016 and started as an experiment in founder David Andrew’s kitchen, has grown from $400,000 to almost $13 million in revenue in just three years.

Investors will also become part owners in the Naked Life beverage range of sugar-free sodas, iced teas and functional drinks and also the reduced sugar family range of products called The No Nasties Project, which includes cereal, cookies, spreads, and sugar-free, all-natural icy poles SugarFreezies.

The money raised from investors will go towards accelerating the brand’s grocery channel growth and replicating this success in other channels and countries.

Andrew confirmed that Naked Life has got three key focuses for growth. 

“Firstly to help reach the hundreds of thousands of sober curious who are yet to enter the category. We will be executing a marketing and awareness campaign this summer to help accelerate the adoption of the non-alc movement,” he said.

“We also are focused on driving growth in the on-premise and liquor categories. Our feedback from consumers is that they want to be able to have more non-alc options through these channels.

“Lastly is to accelerate our export strategy which has started to take off. We’ve built a great deal of brand trust and loyalty on the back of our product quality and so we want to ensure that our customers can enjoy us in more entertaining locations.

“Our company wants to give every Australian a better option than lemon lime and bitters when they’re out drinking with their mates, and the money raised will help widen our reach so more people can live a healthier life without feeling left out.”

Andrew said when he developed a full range to meet his customer’s needs, that’s when the brand really took off in 2020.

“Our sales went nuts — we had the right product at the right time,” he said.

“Naked Life was riding Australia’s post-lockdown sobriety wave. Woolworths trialled us with four cocktails in five stores initially. Four weeks later that grew to 50 stores, which quickly grew to 800 stores within six months. We now have 15 products across Coles and Woolworths stores around Australia.

“And that’s just the start. Now we’re working on conquering other huge growth sectors. We’re already in over 300 bars and restaurants — yet there are 33,000 up for grabs. We’ve signed multiyear deals that will see Naked Life served at major sporting events and live stadium tours. Yes — you’ll be able to watch Taylor Swift while enjoying the world’s best non-alc G&T. And we’ve got iconic Hotel chains, Village Cinemas, and a potential major airline announcement about to drop, so watch this space. International expansion has already started to our friends across the ditch.”

Andrew said the brand’s mission was to change the face of drinking globally.

“We have an incredibly loyal and supportive customer base, and so in our journey to change the face of drinking around the world, we thought — the more brand advocates the better! We had such an amazing response from our customers with close to 3000 Australians expressing interest in our raise,” he said.

“The ability to have a tribe of passionate tribe members who are not only owners, but brand advocates, and able to help out in understanding the needs and wants of our customers is an incredible asset for our business. Staying close to our customers and their evolving needs and wants is critical for our future growth.”  

The brand has around 14 family members and employees across Australia, and now has an additional 950 family members/shareholders from Australia and around the world.

DrinkWise CEO Simon Strahan said Australian drinking habits have changed substantially over the past 15 years, with the overwhelming majority of Australians who choose to drink doing so in moderation and within the recommended guidelines.

“Lower strength alcohol alternatives, such as zero, low and mid-strength options, can help those drinking at risky levels to reduce their alcohol consumption,” he said.

DrinkWise research has revealed a third of Australians, which is 32%, who reduced their alcohol consumption during COVID used low and non-alcoholic options as a means to help them cut back, with half of the risky drinkers willing to use lower and non-alcoholic options to help them moderate.

Strahan said research shows younger people are considerably more likely to want to reduce their alcohol consumption. 

“Almost 6-out-of-10 alcohol drinkers aged 18-to-24 years old are looking to cut down their alcohol consumption. This new DrinkWise research highlights the positive impact that zero, low and mid-strength products can have in helping to reduce alcohol consumption,” he said.

“This research interestingly found that younger people (18-44 years) are twice as likely to consume lower and zero alcohol options than people aged 45+ years.”

Strahan said the DrinkWise research, which surveyed 3,000 Australians, also revealed there is still a perceived stigma around drinking less, with 35% of those aged 18-44 years admitting they would hide the fact they’re not drinking alcohol or drinking lower-strength products from the people they’re with. 

“This stigma is becoming less common, however, as zero and lower-strength options gain popularity,” Strahan added.