Non-alcoholic beer maker Athletic Brewing Firm has obtained a $50 million funding from Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) that can make the publicly-traded CPG large a minority fairness stakeholder within the enterprise.
KDP may even obtain a seat on Athletic’s board of administrators. Athletic leaders declined to share the full variety of board members.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Keurig Dr Pepper as an investor and strategic accomplice,” Athletic co-founder and CEO Invoice Shufelt mentioned in a press launch. “Their group brings an incredible quantity of experience and actually embraces our mission of brewing great-tasting non-alcoholic beers which might be match for all instances. This funding will allow Athletic Brewing to additional speed up our development throughout North America.”
KDP’s Athletic funding is a part of a Sequence D funding spherical during which the fast-growing non-alc beer producer raised a complete of $75 million.
Greater than 25 current traders, together with lead traders TRB Advisors and Alliance Client Progress (ACG), and a number of other celebrities, corresponding to NFL participant J.J. Watt, restaurateur David Chang, tennis star Naomi Osaka, and trend mannequin Karlie Kloss, participated within the spherical.
Athletic mentioned the $75 million funding will assist the corporate “speed up its development throughout the U.S. and set the corporate up for a secure monetary future because it continues to push towards profitability.”
Throughout 5 funding rounds, Athletic has now raised round $173.5 million, together with a $75 million Sequence C spherical in Might 2021 (led by ACG, TRB and greater than 25 current traders), a $17.5 million Sequence B spherical in 2020 (together with TRB Advisors and greater than 25 current traders), a $3 million Sequence A spherical (together with TRB Advisors, Tastemaker Capital, and Blake Mycoskie), and a $3 million angel spherical in 2017 (together with greater than 60 angel traders).
Talking to Brewbound, Shufelt known as the funding “the fruits of a multiyear relationship” that introduced collectively two firms with shared values, a mutually aligned imaginative and prescient for non-alcoholic beer, and companions with a “communicative, collaborative and fast paced” spirit.
“It actually units up Athletic for our monetary stability of the long run and retains quite a lot of choices open on the highway forward,” he mentioned.
Athletic thought of various choices — corresponding to enterprise capital, personal fairness, household workplace, strategics, an preliminary public providing and so on. — and determined KDP was the “finest accomplice for our enterprise” proper now. Shufelt described Athletic as “methodical” on capital construction selections.
In the course of the 2021 Brewbound Reside enterprise convention, Shufelt shared that he’d prefer to take the corporate public at some point. At the moment’s information doesn’t take an IPO off the desk for the long run, he mentioned. Nonetheless, he mentioned the corporate is “tremendous targeted on the chance at hand” with “a lot development alternative forward” within the non-alcoholic beer phase.
Shufelt known as the funding “development capital” that can go towards investing in advertising and rising the NA beer class, in addition to monetary stability for Athletic’s 200-member group throughout the nation.
“With this capital, this offers us sufficient to get via to profitability and have a very long-term sustainable enterprise,” Shufelt mentioned.
What KDP brings to the desk is scale and experience in areas corresponding to provide chain and logistics to fast-growing however nonetheless younger Athletic.
“We’re attempting to get some views on the highway forward as we emerge into new territory for our firm,” Shufelt mentioned.
“There’s so much to study in each division of our firm from one another. And hopefully we now have quite a lot of progressive, enjoyable issues to share again within the different course,” he continued. “However I’d say from Day One, this isn’t an overhaul of how we go to market or how Athletic works. It’s a provider partnership. They’re investing in us. They love what they see in us as a provider and main the way forward for this class.”
Wanting forward, Shufelt mentioned the roles the 2 firms will play within the relationship are “undefined.”
“It’s quite a lot of mutual respect; it’s quite a lot of worth alignment, quite a lot of pleasure about the way forward for non-alcoholic drinks. And from there, I feel we’re going to construct and study collectively.”
Shufelt added that he views the KDP funding as one other daring transfer in Athletic’s historical past, which has included opening the primary non-alcoholic brewery and taproom within the U.S. in 2017, after which opening two further scale manufacturing services devoted to NA beer manufacturing in San Diego and Connecticut.
“On this, we’ve discovered a accomplice that acknowledges that boldness and believes in that future like we do.”
Athletic has traditionally inched near profitability however commissioning new breweries on each coasts has slowed that climb. Nonetheless, Shufelt mentioned he expects the corporate to be worthwhile in about 12 months.
“Had we not introduced on an enormous brewery on the East Coast, we’d in all probability be there already,” he mentioned.
In 2021, Athletic ranked because the twenty seventh largest Brewers Affiliation-defined craft brewery by quantity, producing 104,000 barrels, a 177% year-over-year improve. Athletic reached the 100,000-barrel milestone in 12 months 4, rising from 875 barrels in 2018, to 7,500 barrels in 2019, after which 37,500 barrels in 2020.
With the extra capability coming on-line with its bicoastal manufacturing services, the latest fall resets marked the primary time that Athletic was snug opening further states (it’s now nationwide) and taking over some large-scale retail companions for concern it wouldn’t have the ability to correctly service these accounts, Shufelt mentioned.
“This fall reset interval was a giant interval, and subsequent spring will likely be even larger, as quite a lot of nationwide retailers overhaul their non-alcoholic beer units,” he mentioned.
This yr, Athletic has expanded its presence in Walmart shops, whereas including main retailers corresponding to Costco, Publix, Goal and CVS.
Athletic surpassed its 2021 manufacturing numbers in August, establishing the corporate for one more yr of outsized good points, Shufelt mentioned.
12 months-to-date via October 1, Athletic has elevated off-premise greenback gross sales almost $17 million, to $32.225 million (+109.6%), in accordance with NielsenIQ information. Athletic is now the third largest non-alcoholic beer model, trailing Heineken 0.0 and Budweiser Zero.
