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Ray Franklin leaves Staghorn for Spirits Capital
Digital barrel exchange platform Spirits Capital has hired Staghorn founder Ray Franklin as its chief revenue officer.
California-based Spirits Capital provides technology-driven platforms to enable investors and companies to value, invest and profit on maturing spirits.
Franklin joins Spirits Capital after founding Atlanta-based spirits company Staghorn six years ago, and serves as a member of the board of directors for the Kentucky Distillers’ Association.
In his new capacity, Franklin will oversee the company’s Distilled Barrels Financial Exchange platform, which seeks to pair wholesale whiskey producers and sellers through ‘legitimate and transparent’ channels.
“We’ve seen an opportunity to really vet buyers and sellers,” Franklin said. “Audit those barrels from trusted sellers, and allow fair, accessible and trustworthy transactions to transpire on the digital barrel exchange.”
Franklin recalls a time at Staghorn, which opened Kentucky’s Garrard County Distilling in early 2024, when he was bidding on barrels from two different brokers at two different prices that turned out to be the same exact lot. He tells another story of a friend who purchased barrels of what they believed to be MGP-distilled Bourbon, only to find out that the whiskey had been moved to Columbian oak – a detail that wasn’t specified at the time of purchase.
He says that many of these issues arise because buyers and sellers don’t know each other, and that while American whiskey growth is slowing, especially as post-pandemic trends normalise, Spirits Capital aims to offer a solution to what remains a costly and often high-risk issue.
“In down times like this, there are problems everywhere. And if you’re a good entrepreneur, you can find solutions to these problems. And that’s what we’ve done,” he said. “It benefits all distilleries and all major brokers and financial institutions. I think it will be embraced.”
Leaving Staghorn
While Franklin is excited for this new chapter in his professional life, leaving Staghorn, which he founded in 2018 is bittersweet. He recalls his daughter rollerblading on the concrete slab where the Staghorn building now stands and says that he is still invested in the company’s success.
“It’s always difficult to leave something of that size and scale, and something so meaningful to me and my family,’ Franklin said. “I did all the things I set out to do with Staghorn.”
Franklin says he departed on amicable terms and remains an investor at Staghorn. In fact, he hopes that his new role at Spirits Capital can help independent distillers like Garrard County, who may be looking to offload new make spirit to upstart and non-distilling producers.
“What I’m doing now really benefits that organisation. It allows us to drive buyers to the old distillery,” Franklin said. “I’ve always wanted to be in the Kentucky Bourbon business, and I always wanted to be respected, and leave my own mark in the industry. And I’m going to be able to do that.”
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