Whitebox Cocktails seeks £450,000

Ready-to-drink (RTD) producer Whitebox Cocktails is aiming to raise £450,000 (US$564,124) via crowdfunding to accelerate its global expansion.

The Seedrs crowdfunding campaign will launch on Tuesday 13 June. Whitebox Cocktails has a valuation of £7m (US$8.7m).

The funds will help to further grow London and Edinburgh-based Whitebox Cocktails, which has experienced ‘rapid growth’ in the UK.

The brand claims to be one of the fastest-growing independent cocktail brands in the UK and one of the first bartender-owned producers of ready-to-serve cocktails.

It was founded by Alex Lawrence, brand director for the Mr Lyan studios; Ben Iravani, founder of Aberdeen cocktail bars Orchid and 99 Bar; Pietro Collina, former bar director of NoMad Hotel Group; Josh Rennie, co-founder of Porters Gin; and Jack Wareing, formerly of Dandelyan, and current head of research and development for Whitebox.

Lawrence said: “People think nothing of seeking out the best cocktails at the world’s top bars, yet they often settle for bad replicas at home, so we launched Whitebox Cocktails to share the joy of classic cocktails and enable our customers to consistently enjoy a world-class cocktail wherever they are.

“We’re already one of the UK’s fastest-growing independent cocktail brands and with cocktails forecast to spur the most growth in RTDs globally, we can’t wait to take our investors on our exciting journey to become the category leader of classic ready-to-serve cocktails.”

In 2022, Whitebox Cocktails grew its UK distribution from 60 to more than 700 independent outlets. The brand has recently launched in Selfridges, and is stocked at leading independent retailers including Shop Cuvée, Clapton Craft and Yield.

In addition to being available in Denmark, France and Ireland, Whitebox recently secured a US distribution partner.

“Having achieved 400% sales growth in our first six months of trading in the US it’s an exciting time of growth for Whitebox Cocktails,” said Iravani.

“For less than the price of a round of drinks, investors can join us on our journey to become the global leader of classic ready-to-serve cocktails.

“We’ll use the proceeds of the Seedrs raise to continue our rapid growth in the UK and the US, as well as accelerate international expansion of the brand as the distribution side of the business opens up.”

The brand’s portfolio currently includes the Master medal-winning Pocket Negroni and Freezer Martini, alongside Chipper’s Old Fashioned, Classic Cosmo, Squeezy’s Margarita, Tiny Tee’s Dirty Martini, Prêt À Boire Boulevardier, Disco Baby, Hippy Fizz, and Whisky Highball.

Over the next 12 months, Whitebox plans to more than double its number of products to appeal to a wider audience, increase its production capacity and distribution channels, grow its sales team, and further expand overseas.

In November 2021, Whitebox secured £350,000 (US$477,370) to fund a production site in Edinburgh.