Collect 325,000 euros with crowdfunding in the middle of the crisis

Before launching the equity crowdfunding campaign via the platform co-funder John CereijoCEO and Founder of Mica BeerHe had his doubts. Perhaps with the state of alert already decreed, it wasn’t the best time to ask for money. However, he noted some interest from some investors and was encouraged to go ahead with plans to launch the crowdfunding campaign on March 31. They increased the minimum entry ticket from 500 euros to 5,500 euros to address it only to professional investors, reaching the sum of 325,000 euros in a few days, about 65,000 euros more than the proposed target.

Now Juan Cereijo has only words of thanks for the platform. “Working with Fellow Funders has been fundamental for us, the trust has been great from the start and we hope to be able to do more actions with them in the future,” he explains.

The funds obtained will be used by the brewery to professionalize the marketing through a team of experts and to consolidate the internationalization process, bearing in mind that they already sell in countries such as China, Russia, the United States, France, Switzerland or Sweden Others .

The name Cerveza Mica derives from the most characteristic mineral of the Sierra de Fuentenebro, the only town with a high mountain climate in the Ribera del Duero. Here they grow the barley from which they make their craft beers with a very special taste. In it, and in the craft beer boom, Cereijo saw a business opportunity and a way to make its mark. And it’s so successful that the brand has already won several awards recognizing it as the best beer in the world, and it’s the only craft beer in Spain to hold the IFS Food Safety and Quality Certificate. Getting here is the result of a lot of previous work, but also the result of innovation, something that helped them get a CDTI they used to create the first non-alcoholic craft beer.

All of the above does not mean that the Cerveza Mica accounts have not been more than 40% affected by the Covid crisis. With six years of experience and a factory with a production capacity of one million liters of craft beer per year, the brand positions itself as a premium product with a customer distribution of almost 50% between the restaurant channel and supermarkets. And while beer consumption has increased with the crisis, the Horeca channel, which absorbs 90% of craft beer consumption, has suffered significantly. Also mention that Cerveza Mica has online sales for the end customer, but that its percentage in the company’s accounts is lower since they rely on quality rather than volume as a business strategy.

living the present

Saving the situation and keeping the pace of growth as much as possible has encouraged Cereijo to continue the crowdfunding campaign and request an already received ICO credit. This money is intended to expand the workforce from currently seven people and to strengthen the commercial and marketing areas. They have also promoted online sales to try to transfer the user’s physical experience to the digital environment while supporting local businesses. They have achieved this by selling pairing packs online, in which they offer the consumption of products such as black pudding cream or churra sheep’s cheese from the country, in addition to some of their beers.

But Juan Cereijo has more ideas to put into practice once the state of alert ends and we must continue to respect the distance. “The advantage we little ones have is that we are more flexible and agile in adapting to circumstances. We can host events in open spaces with fewer people, or seek new experiences in the online channel, always thinking of today’s consumers, not those of yesteryear. Anything but waiting for things to go back to how they were before the crisis. You have to be realistic,” he says.