Three Spirit closes $3m funding round

Plant-based alcohol alternative Three Spirit has secured US$3 million worth of funding to pursue its US expansion plans.

The US$3m raised during its Series A round of venture capital funding, led by Circle Up Growth Partners, will go towards manufacturing, building the team and continuing scientific research in the US.

Meeta Gournay, Three Spirit co-founder, said: “Circle Up is our dream partner. Their data-driven approach to growing consumer brands aligns with ours.

“The team’s knowledge of the beverage, non-alcoholic, consumer and wellness industries is second to none. Given we are a UK-founded business, Circle Up is perfectly positioned to support Three Spirit from our strong start in the US and accelerate the brand in a thoughtful and meaningful way.”

Gournay created the brand along with Bar Chick co-founder Tatiana Mercer and Dash Lilley, who has founded a number of wellness-focused beverage labels. Bar experts Tristan Stephenson and Thomas Aske also helped develop the liquid.

The team sought to understand alcohol’s ‘positive effects’ and how it interacts with receptors in the body’s nervous system. They then discovered plants with active compounds that interact with these same receptors.

The 11 plant-based ingredients used to create Three Spirit include lion’s mane, yerba mate, cacao and damiana.

The original product, Three Spirit Social Elixir, was joined by two more products in 2019: Livener and Nightcap.

The funding through Circle Up will also aid the brand’s new product development.

“New product development is at the heart of all that we do at Three Spirit,” said co-founder and head alchemist Lilley. “This fantastic partnership will help us accelerate and scale our exciting new product plans that we hope will redefine what’s possible in the non-alcoholic wine space, as well as adult RTDs.”

The wine alternatives and RTDs are due to launch in early 2022.