Cornelius, NC — In June 2020, D9 Brewing Company announced the formation of Community Brewing Ventures (CBV), a disruptive business model created to assist like-minded breweries expand their brands— without the significant capital investment typically required. At the end of January 2021, CBV raised $2.5 million through its seed-round to support operations, with additional funding rounds planned over the next five years.
CBV will invest capital and partner with breweries to support their brand growth, including marketing and production expertise. CBV will also provide partner breweries financial and production support in exchange for a portion of sales.
“CBV’s model results in significant savings and allows the brewery to remain focused on growing its brand and continued innovation at the tap,” says Andrew Durstewitz, founder and CEO of D9 Brewing. “This is first and foremost a way to support the craft-beer industry. We want to keep small breweries small and innovative so they can change as fast as the market changes.”
CBV already has established a network capable of producing 300,000 barrels of beer for its partners annually. D9 Brewing was CBV’s first partner, and now the bulk of D9 Brewing’s beer is produced off-site. In addition to D9 Brewing, three more breweries have signed on to be apart of the CBV network.
“Our model supports high growth, even in the current environment,” said Luke Walling, CEO and president of Temprano Techvestors and a member of the CBV Board of Directors. “Investors believe in what we are doing, closing $2.5 million in capital to accelerate the model’s implementation and growth is proof positive of that. Our model gives craft breweries across the US access to distribution options, expert advice, and extra diversified income to allow them to focus on their passion and creating their next great beer.”
CBV is looking to partner with brands with a good value, strong community connection, and the ability to grow its footprint with the right support. CBV will continue to raise capital to partner with more breweries as interest has intensified.
About Community Brewing Ventures
Community Brewing Ventures (CBV) is an organization focused on helping small breweries overcome the challenges that oftentimes prevent them from growing to meet the demand for their beer. By working with contract brewing partners across the Eastern US, they are able to bring great beer to new customers who otherwise may never have had the opportunity. Most importantly, the small breweries that CBV works with stay independent, continuing to drive the innovation and creativity that makes craft beer so special.
CBV grew out of D9 Brewing Company, one of the Southeast’s fastest growing and most exciting breweries. Seeing the opportunity to apply the lessons that he learned through growing his own business to helping others in the industry, founder and CEO Andrew Durstewitz realized that the gap between how big a brewery can become, and how big they should become, was often insurmountable. CBV is able to take on the more labyrinthine elements of logistics and operations, allowing the small breweries to continue doing what they have always been so good at: creating value for the customer.
For more information: https://www.d9brewing.com/