Dolph Lundgren’s Hard Cut Vodka ends crowdfund at $637,822
Hard Cut Vodka co-founder and action movie star Dolph Lundgren shares what’s next for the brand after closing its equity crowdfund.
The Rocky IV star officially launched Hard Cut Vodka with his wife, Emma Krokdal, in March 2025, and started an equity crowdfunding campaign six months later, which he said at the time had “a loose target of about US$2 million”.
The idea was to grow the brand at a controlled pace. “We’re trying not to get above our skis,” he said, with funds raised from the campaign allocated to US sales expansion, investment in marketing, and scaling inventory.
Lundgren closed the crowdfund on 16 March after raising a total of US$637,822. According to the brand’s StartEngine page, it drew 229 investors. The minimum investment was US$495.
The next step is “consolidating our business here in Southern California,” Lundgren told The Spirits Business after the funding round ended.
Los Angeles-based Lundgren took on the CEO position for the company at the end of last year. He has since decided to “put a pin on New York”, where the brand also debuted last summer, and focus on California.
“We want to go deep in a smaller area – Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Hollywood, and then down to San Diego – there’s millions of people here that drink a lot. California is the number one spirits state in America, so there’s plenty of work still to be done here.”
For 2026, the brand will expand in the state with more sales people and more money spent on digital promotion, including hiring a marketing company for further exposure and events.
Building awareness
Lundgren noted the California focus makes it easier for him to personally do activations. “Even going to San Diego is three hours, so we’re trying to keep that business,” he said. “We want to get into a nice place and grow the brand here for the next year or two, rather than go into new territories or markets.”
He added that it’s now about “investing in marketing, putting out more product in the second half of this year, and growing awareness”, which he clarified, “will take a while no matter what you’re selling, as it takes a couple of years for people to hear of the brand and to understand what it is.
“And it doesn’t matter how much money you spend,” he added. “That’s why it is actually better to start slow, otherwise you burn through cash.”
In terms of the brand’s messaging, Lundgren is emphasising Hard Cut’s sipping ability.
He explained: “People look at [vodka] as an ingredient, and we’re trying to make people understand that some vodkas taste better than others, and there are higher-quality vodkas. Like ours, for instance.
“To make people realise that distinction, we have the higher-proof, and we have the Idaho potatoes – the combination of those two makes us smoother and stronger.
“It’s a bit like an action star where you’ve got to be tough on the outside and soft on the inside.”
He also noted a lack of vodkas in the market that are promoted for sipping purposes: “We’re trying to encourage people to drink our vodka straight up, and there aren’t many of those. Unless you’re a special forces guy and you shoot it down, most people can’t drink vodka straight because they [think] it doesn’t taste good – we’re trying to change that.
“We’re also trying to find cocktails that bring out the taste in our vodka. We find that Hard Cut goes well with a fresh taste,” he said, pointing to a serve called A Cut Above, which sees fresh green apple juice, ginger and lemon served over ice with Hard Cut vodka.
Flat market ‘not affecting our business’
While Lundgren has now been immersed in the spirits industry for a year, the CEO role is an even newer undertaking for him. “I am learning the ropes and I have to make decisions every day, and I’m also getting more connections,” he said.
“I’ve obviously produced movies and directed movies, so I’m used to running a project, but this is long-term and commercial. It’s a consumer product. It’s sort of like film, but a little different, though it is actually something people buy and take home, like with films. You’re transmitting a sensation, so it’s similar and different, but I like it.”
Lundgren is now organising the Hard Cut business in a way that allows him not to undertake as much operational work as he did previously. “I want to focus more on fundraising,” he said, adding the team will do another raise in about a month for “the marketing aspect of growing the company.”
When considering the downturn being seen in the industry, he feels this doesn’t apply to Hard Cut as much as it may do for the bigger brands.
“As a small company, if we get one out of 1,000 drinkers to try Hard Cut, that’s great for us,” he said. “We’ll make loads of money, more than we are now. In the case of a major company where you have a big vodka brand and you’re selling a million cases, you have to make sure you sell that next year. For us, it’s not like that.
“We aren’t too concerned if the market is flat, as it’s not affecting our business. Our business is to spread the awareness of our brand and raise/grow without running out of cash – and basically, that’s what we’re doing.”
“We want people to try our vodka”
Lundgren is clear that the vodka, made with Idaho potatoes and water from the Rocky Mountains, is the only product they’re working on for now, and at present, line extensions or a move into the ready-to-drink (RTD) segment are not on the cards.
“There’s still plenty of business,” he said. “Just look at Tito’s, which sells a billion dollars worth of liquor every year. RTD is a great space, but it’s a tough business and we’re trying to establish ourselves as the best premium vodka in the market. That’s our job.”
To do this, he reiterated that it’s about raising awareness in both the on- and off-trade: “It’s bartenders and bars, getting on the menus, which is difficult, but we’ve been lucky so far in that we have a great sales team.
“I have a book coming out later this year, a documentary in the works, and I’m in a couple of big movies, so some of that will help get the awareness, too. But most importantly, we want people to try our vodka.
“We’re confident that when people try it, they’ll prefer Hard Cut to other vodkas. That’s usually what happens nine times out of 10.”
Reflecting on the state of the vodka category, Lundgren added that on the whole, the category has “kind of been without innovation for a while”.
“A lot of these big brands have been around for a long time, 30-40 years, and there’s a bit of a white space there. Even though people don’t drink as much – so they say – well, people still drink quite a bit. There’s US$20 billion worth of vodka business out there, somewhere.”
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