Matugga Distillery smashes £300k investment target

Scottish rum producer Matugga Distillery – the UK’s first Black female-owned distillery – has hit its £300,000 (US$392,468) crowdfunding goal in two weeks.

There are still two weeks left of Matugga’s crowdfunding campaign, which set out to raise £300,000.

More than 200 shareholders have already invested in the company, founded by husband-and-wife team Jacine Rutasikwa and Ugandan-born Paul Rutasikwa.

The funds will go towards new distillery kit and expanding the Matugga team. Furthermore, head distiller Paul is starting work on a sugarcane plantation in Uganda, which will turn Matugga into a ‘cane to cask’ producer.

He said: “The African market is buoyant but craft drinks companies in the UK don’t see the opportunity. When it comes to export, UK companies immediately think of Asia and North America – but they are missing out on huge demand, appetite and spending power across African nations.

“We are fortunate to have contacts, cultural affinity, family ties and product-market fit to be an early mover. We want to supply our unique, high-quality spirit to rum drinkers around the world, and to convert new ones along the way.”

Matugga Distillery, which has a pre-money valuation of more than £1.2 million (US$1.6m), is currently operating at full capacity.

With two weeks remaining on the crowdfunding campaign, co-founder Jacine is encouraging rum fans to invest.

“We’ve faced huge challenges along the way, it hasn’t been easy – we’ve had to be incredibly resilient, so we’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved, and we’re so grateful to everyone who has invested,” she said.

“The journey is far from over. Rum is on the up and there aren’t many other dedicated rum distilleries in the UK that you can invest in – there’s still time to become part of Matugga and help us take Scottish rum worldwide. When people think ‘rum’ we want them to think of Scotland alongside the world’s best.”