Suyo Pisco gains $100,000 funding

Sprout Beverage, the startup accelerator arm of InvestBev, has selected two winners of its spring 2024 cohort pitch competition.

Eleven beverage startups were in the running, with Suyo Pisco gaining US$100,000 and runner-up Rococo Tokyo, a beer brand, bagging US$50,000.

Sprout runs its programme twice a year, offering founders a three-month series of education, mentoring and resources. The programme culminates in its pitch day, where participating founders compete for investment.

Other brands in this year’s cohort included two Tequila brands, Estoico Indigo and Sueños Spirits, and two mezcal brands, Doce Mezcal and Santo de Piedra.

Judges included investors from InvestBev and venture capital firm Okeanos.

The winners were chosen based on the founders’ ‘insights and understanding of their target consumer and market, strategic growth plan and early traction and success indicators’.

Suyo Pisco was founded by former consultants Alex Hildebrandt and Ian Leggett, who wanted to introduce the world to Peru’s national spirit while supporting local vineyards.

The brand works with independent pisco producers to develop and distribute single-origin pisco made with zero additives.

“We’re excited to partner with Alex, Ian and the Suyo Pisco team as they expand the market for pisco in the US. We see this as an emerging frontier for the spirits category, in much the same way we’ve seen demand for Tequila and mezcal grow over the past decade,” said Brian Rosen, founder of InvestBev.

“We’re honoured to have Suyo Pisco join our InvestBev brand portfolio with other beverage industry innovators. With this graduation, InvestBev’s accelerator portfolio now has more than 30 brands.”