Thirsty investors gave breweries the biggest equity fundraises of 2022

When it comes to equity crowdfunding, a new report shows that the food and beverage sector eclipsed every other industry in 2022. It turns out that us Aussies will happily put our money where our mouth is, especially to help fund breweries

Birchal’s CSF Yearbook for 2022 has revealed that Australian startups in the food and beverage space landed over $28 million in equity fundraising last year, which was spread out across 33 deals and 14,911 total investors.

For perspective, the second-largest sector was financial services, which raised $8.7 million across 10 deals with 2588 investors.

All three of these top campaigns were from breweries that raised over $2 million apiece: Your Mates Brewing, Black Hops and Drink West. All three campaigns were run by Birchal.

“There’s probably a few things at play, particularly with craft breweries. They tend to be strong brands that they’re building a culture or vibe around,” Matt Vitale, CEO and co-founder of Birchal, said in a call with SmartCompany.

Equity crowdfunding platform Equitise has seen a similar trend across food and beverage startups, with breweries and distilleries again tending to be popular with investors.

“It’s one of those things that if you can see it and feel it then it’s obviously easy to understand what you’re investing in,” Jonny Wilkinson, co-founder of Equitise, said to SmartCompany.

“Microbreweries or independent brewers definitely get that cult status and following that people have an affinity for and want to invest in support. Consumer advocacy and getting a crowd behind the business is one of the great benefits of crowdfunding.” 

A conscious approach to food, beverages and breweries

Over the last few years in Australia, we’ve seen an increased interest in shopping and eating locally. Part of this can be attributed to COVID-19 and travel restrictions, but there has also been increased awareness and care regarding what we’re putting in our bodies and where it’s coming from.

Just last year we spoke to Aussie distillers who have seen an uptick in interest in local ingredients and aromatics, as well as treating cellar doors as a destination. And recent statistics have shown that Australians are drinking less, but are willing to pay more for quality products and ingredients.

And it seems this trend is also manifesting in the equity crowdfunding space. 

“With craft beer and craft spirit, people are becoming more discerning about the alcohol products that they’ll seek out and want to consume, and I think that’s a really good thing,” Wilkinson said.

“People are generally taking a more conscious approach to their food and looking at businesses are doing things in an authentic and positive way. And equity crowdfunding is the medium for people to make these connections and join these communities, which is great to be a part of. “

Vitale agreed with this sentiment.

“I think through COVID-19, people became pretty reflective about their relationship with alcohol and, and health. It will always be an important and valued part of people’s lives but by being more discerning and more intentional about how you’re enjoying alcohol and the things that you want to consume. I think that that’s great.”

Vitale also makes the point that these startups still need to be on point to earn people’s support. And this leans in to a similar conversation we had with Michael Tolo from Blackbird Ventures about the changing landscape of funding in 2023.

“The businesses that do well need to be really crisp about why they exist and what they’re going after,” Vitale said.

“The opportunity is there for them to have success with crowdfunding, because as we’ve seen that people are responding even in the face of pretty uncertain macroeconomic conditions.”