A few months after receiving $70 million in a Series D round, which was headed by the Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings Co., craft beer manufacturer Bira 91 has received $10 million from MUFG Bank, the largest bank in Japan.
The money will be put to use by the business to strengthen its innovative skills while also continuing to build up manufacturing and the supply chain.
Bira 91, a brewery that was established in 2015, produces a number of different beers, including Bira White, Gold, Bira Blonde, and Boom Ultra Strong. The business has also experimented with non-alcoholic drinks. With almost 31,000 stores spread throughout 550 cities, it is present in 18 different countries. The firm asserts that it has double-digit market share in a number of important regions and has become India’s fourth-largest beer brand.
After purchasing The Beer Café in an all-stock transaction in October, the brewer recently entered the market for cafe chains.
In India’s most important markets, Bira 91 has a 5% market share. It is offered in 550 towns and 18 nations throughout the world, and there are five manufacturing facilities in the nation. At the conclusion of the current calendar year, 25 foreign markets will have access to their goods, according to Jain. A greenfield project in Uttar Pradesh, in which the business has announced investments, is scheduled to open in the summer of 2024.
Operating revenue for Bira 91 increased by 66.8% to Rs 719 crore in FY22 after declining in FY21. Fintrackr’s data shows that the company’s losses also increased by 57.8% to Rs 396 crore in FY22 from Rs 251 the previous fiscal year (FY21).
The overall value of the ESOP was around $32.75 million when Bira 91 voted a resolution in December 2022 to enhance the current ESOP pool by about $14 million. The business also changed its status to a public entity in preparation for an IPO in the upcoming months.
