Abhishek Securities

  After raising a $20 million bridge round from existing investors Sequoia Capital and Sofina, Bira 91 has raised 9.3 crore from a clutch of angels including Pankaj Chaddah, Shikha Sunil Chandak and Nishant Mittal. The money has come at a time when Bira 91 is gearing up to foray into non-alcoholic beverages. Sajeev Singh has invested Rs 2 crore whereas Chandak put in Rs 1.04 crore, regulatory filings show. Suprati Finvest Pvt Ltd, Vineeta Gupta and Naveen Sangari have infused Rs 1 crore each in the craft beer brand. Majithia Family has invested Rs 1.45 crore while Kais Holding invested Rs 71.52 lakh. Zomato’s and Mindhouse’s co-founder Chaddah has put in Rs 75 lakh and Mittal invested Rs 34 lakh. Following the fresh infusion, promoters holdings has been diluted to 19.35% while ear;y backer Sequoia remains the largest stakeholder with 42.19% stake.  Sofina Ventures controls 10.3% in the Delhi-based venture. Sixth Sense India opportunity Fund owns 1.81% whereas the ESOP pool con...

  Bira 91’s board has passed a special resolution to alter the main object clause of the company to accommodate the sales, manufacture and export of non-alcoholic beverages, show company regulatory filings. The company is also expected to sell soda, tea and coffee. Bira 91’s move into the non-alcoholic beverages segment is a departure from the company’s earlier plans to launch 40-50 different limited release beers.  This comes at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the beer business severely. Every year, beer manufacturers and retailing entities expect up to 60% of their business during summer, which couldn’t take place this year. Nationwide lockdown and a restriction on non-essential businesses during the beginning of the pandemic had  crippled  a major chunk of business in the ongoing fiscal for all who are involved in the beer trade. Since bars, pubs and alcohol shops were closed for two to three months (depending on states), the industry had seen no re...

  “ Indian craft beer Bira91 to launch 3 brands in UK by end of February ” – read a local UK newspaper “ Bira91  –  Now in the Southern Hemisphere making sure Aussie summers just got more delicious!”  – read a post from personal LinkedIn handle of Bira91 CEO/founder Ankur Jain. With presence in 9 countries by January 2020, Bira91 plans on to expand to 16 countries by end of this financial year. The 5-year young company took onus of creating a “craft beer imagined in India” & is today a leader of craft beer market in India. Bira91, Craft Brews & Millennials – a love triangle Though a popular term, a few know what makes craft beers so special. A craft brew is one that is ideally organic, locally sourced(often) & not mass produced. Craft beer is made in a traditional or non-mechanized way by a small brewery. In 2014-15, India consumed about 270 million cases of beer among which craft beers—including microbreweries, made up only one percent of the market. The...

When we met at the Bira 91 headquarters in Delhi’s Connaught Place in March, Ankur Jain, CEO and founder of Bira 91,was in his usual attire—denims and a black T-shirt with the Bira monkey emblazoned on it. Months later, Jain and I are meeting virtually over a Microsoft Teams call. “It feels like we are living a different life," says Jain, dressed in the same T-shirt. The means of our communication may have changed but his attire hasn’t. Despite the pandemic bringing major sections of the economy to a halt, it has been an eventful year for Bira. In March, it launched the Bira 91 Limited Release Taproom in Koramangala, Bengaluru. Jain says the taproom was meant to be a place where they could host consumers and get them to try out new variants of their brews. It was almost like “crowd-sourcing" the next Bira 91. “The intent with the taproom was to get every consumer to rate and vote our beers, give us feedback on what they like about them and what they don’t. We want to incorpor...