UK’s Drop Bear secures investment to construct alcohol-free brewery

Gluten-free and low-calorie beers producer Drop Bear Beer has reportedly secured an equity investment for constructing alcohol-free breweries.

Established in 2019 by Joelle Drummond and Sarah McNena, Drop Bear Beer is based in Swansea, Wales, and offers a wide range of vegan, gluten-free and low-calorie beers with 0.5 alcohol by volume (ABV).

The company secured a total equity investment of £1.8m ($2.4m) from Admiral Group founder Henry Engelhardt and from a campaign on an equity crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube.

Henry Engelhardt reportedly invested £1.5m ($2.05m), while Crowdcube invested £300,000 in the company.

The company’s co-founder and operations and finance director Sarah McNena said: “To have a businessman of Henry’s experience and reputation on board recognising the incredible work we’re doing with Drop Bear is absolutely fantastic

“His investment, along with £300,000 that is coming from our Crowdcube campaign, enables us to increase production capacity further, create more jobs and make even more of an impact on both the national and international stage.”

The company will use the investment to construct an alcohol-free brewery to enhance its production capacity and market share. It anticipates that the new brewery could become operational by the end of October.

Drop Bear co-founder and sales and marketing director Joelle Drummond said: “In less than two years and with a very humble personal investment, Sarah and I have transformed Drop Bear from just an idea into a multimillion-pound business with an international reputation.

“As the [company’s] founders, we’re so excited and motivated to show the world what [we] can do with significant investment and what this brewery will mean for the industry as a whole.”