Member Article

Online craft beer purveyors Honest Brew plot first physical site following funding

Online craft beer retailer Honest Brew has announced it has raised £1.5m of funding to accelerate plans to launch its first real-world site.

The London-based ecommerce platform, which stocks craft ales from around the world through its retail and subscription offering, has received backing from Hargreave Hale VCTs with additional funding coming from a smattering of high net worth individuals.

As part of this round Stephen Moon, the chief executive helming Science in Sport, will join the business as non-executive director.

According to the brand, this latest funding boost will support the growth of its online platform as well as see the development of Honest Brew’s first physical space and build out its trade services.

Since launching in 2014, Honest Brew has managed to ride the wave of the UK’s craft ale boom and now stocks over 500 beers from around the world after originally starting out as a small brewing operation from one of the co-founder’s kitchen.

Andrew Reeve, who founded the business alongside Annabel Causer, Tim Armstrong and Craig Wilmott, said that much of the firm’s success can be attributed to its focus on supporting independent craft breweries and its focus on service.

He commented: We want to keep pushing the growth of craft beer in the UK, helping independents to gain a greater market share and people to enjoy craft beer no matter where they are.

“As part of this mission we’ll be scaling our online platform, launching our first physical space and expanding our trade offering.”

The latest funding follows a pair of £250k angel investment rounds in the last two and a half years and a £400k raise on Crowdcube, bringing total funding to £2.4m.