Otway Brewing crowdfunds for growth

THE Otway Brewing Group hopes to raise $2.5 million in capital through a crowdfunding campaign that would make investors part owners of the business.

The fundraising is to help the business with new building infrastructure, construction at its Queenscliff Brewhouse, an expansion and commercialisation of its whisky distilling arm and plans to make operations 100 per cent carbon neutral.

The capital raising venture through equity crowdfunding platform Birchal is a relatively new investment method in Australia, only officially becoming legislated and regulated in Australia in 2018.

Officially known in Australia as crowd-sourced equity funding (CSF), equity crowdfunding allows private companies and public unlisted companies to source funding by offering a stake in their business to public investors.

“We already carry a certain level of bank debt, interest rates are going up…this seemed a logical way of supporting us,” CEO and co-founder of Otway Brewing Andrew Noseda said.

“It’s a fascinating as to where this market has got to…there was a brewer in Queensland that recently raised 2.5 million in one and a half hours.”

Prospective investors are being asked to take a direct shareholding in the business that produces a range of beers, ciders, gins and vodkas that sell from four retail sites; the Great Ocean Road Brewhouse and Apollo Bay Distillery, the Queenscliffe Brewhouse and the Otway Estate at Barongarook.

“It’s a direct shareholding into the business that runs those four sites… our aim is for people to invest with us for a direct cash return on their shares,” Mr Noseda said.

The equity crowdfunding campaign is currently in its expression of interest period that closes November 8 and during this phase prospective shareholders make a non-binding pledge as to how much they’d consider investing.
Once the EOI period is over, formal documents will be sent to those who’ve signed up to confirm what their financial investment will be.

The company has set a minimum capital raising benchmark of $850,000 through the CSF platform.

Mr Noseda said the expressions of interest (EOI) already exceed the businesses requirements, “but we’re well aware that not all will go through with it.”

“Depending on how successful we are through the program it will determine whether we do everything in 3 months or 12 months,” he said of the brewer’s expansion plans.