Kae Capital invests $1 mn in Boutique Spirit Brands

Hard liquor company Boutique Spirit Brands (BSB) which sells rum and brandy under the brand names of Gladius and Zeus respectively in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh has raised about Rs 6.8 crore ($1 million) from from institutional investors like Kae Capital.

BSB closed FY18 with over Rs 18 crore in revenues selling just across two markets and is targetting gross revenues of about Rs 80 crore by FY19 as it also looks to widen its playground and portfolio.

“We are now looking to launch a whiskey brand as also expand the sale of rum and brandy to eight and four states respectively. We want to have presence across all categories and hence will look at launching a vodka brand in the long term as well,” said Rahul Gagerna, Founder of BSB, formerly the head of marketing at distilleries firm Radico Khaitan.

The company sold 50,000 cases across rum and brandy in FY18 and is looking to sell over 2 lakh cases by FY19.

“Given that liquor is a matter of state jurisdictions and the operational complexity in business, we wanted to back a team that has navigated this in the past. The cofounding team has several decades of liquor experience coupled with strong traction of brands such as Gladius and Zeus made a compelling case for us to invest,” said Navin Honagudi, Managing Director at Kae Capital.

BSB is also planning to add multiple investors for Rs 14 crore in debt finance to establish a considerable retail presence across the hotel and restaurant segment for brand recognition.