India: Brewer Bira91’s parent company raises $5.58 mln in funding

Delhi-based craft beer maker B9 Beverages, the parent company of Bira91, has raised $5.58 mln in fresh funding, Inc42 Media reported on May 30.

According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings accessed by Inc42, the company has raised a pre-Series C funding round from Sixth Sense Ventures as well as debt funding from Anicut Trust. Here’s the breakdown of the round:

November 2018: Issues 90 unrated unlisted unsecured redeemable non convertible debentures at a value of INR 10 Lakh to Grand Anicut Trust 1 for INR 9 Cr ($1.28 Mn)

May 2019: Issued 500K pre-Series C shares at a nominal value of INR 15 with a premium of INR 585 worth INR 30 Cr ($4.29 Mn) to Sixth Sense Ventures

Prior to this round, the company has raised $77 Mn from investors such as Sequoia and Belgium’s Sofina Capital. The filings showed that Bira91 has been valued at $292.57 Mn on May 22, 2019 and looks to be valued at $596 Mn in FY24.

Founded in 2015 by Ankur Jain, Bira91 is a craft beer brand manufactured by B9 Beverages. It is available in multiple flavours and has a presence across Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune and Chandigarh.

The company has nearly 350 employees. The company now operates two breweries in India, and has offices in nine cities including New York City. Over the last seven months, the company has also issued ESOPS to multiple employees worth INR 29 Lakh.

In India, the space for alcoholic beverages, particularly beer, had been until a few years, dominated by a few established brands. However, with a vision that young Indians would opt to drink a higher quality brew some innovators started a new approach towards drinking.

The largest brewery in India by market share is the Bengaluru-based United Breweries. Other major breweries in India are Carlsberg, SABMiller India, Som Distilleries and Breweries ltd and Anheuser-Busch InBev.

The market has been growing majorly due to increase in number of youth population, higher disposable income, rising preference of consumers for low alcohol beverages and others.

Further, India is rapidly developing its own craft beer culture with notable companies such as Bira 91 and White Rhino popular among Indian consumers. Although India’s craft beer industry is still nascent, the All India Brewers Association estimates craft beers sales to be growing at a rate of 20% y-o-y.

31 May, 2019