BrewDog to launch American crowdfunding drive as profits rise

The company reveals the plan after recently announcing that it has raised a record £13.5m in the fourth round of its UK Equity for Punks scheme.

It has set a target of £25m by the time the round closes in April.

BrewDog has raised more than £20m through crowdfunding since 2010 and news of the American venture also comes as the firm’s results for 2015 showed turnover increased year-on-year by 52 per cent to £45m, with UK sales up by 130 per cent.

The new American fundraising drive would see the same “Equity for Punks” model aimed at US residents.

Cash raised from the US scheme, to be launched in May, will in part be used to open a new US base in Ohio.

Ellon-based BrewDog estimates initial costs of establishing its North American base and a network of BrewDog “brewpubs” across the country at about $25m (£17.5m).

The construction of a new 100,000 sq ft brewery in Columbus, Ohio, is already under way.

The company claims it will be “one of the most technologically advanced craft breweries in the world” when it opens in August. BrewDog estimates that more than 120 staff will be employed there.

The company, whose flagship beer is Punk IPA, opened 17 new bars around the world last year, including craft beer venues in Brussels, Rome and Hong Kong as well as the UK.

This year it plans to set up shop at a number of new locations, including Amsterdam, Warsaw, York and Berlin.

BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: “2015 was a great year for BrewDog in and of itself, but it was also about laying the foundations for the next five years of growth.”

The company was founded nine years ago in Fraserburgh by Mr Watt and Martin Dickie, and now employs 580 people.

The firm’s full results will be announced at the end of February.