Killarney Brewery and Distillery Co hopes US investor roadshow will help it complete €7m fundraiser target

In an investor pitch deck, seen by the Sunday Independent, Killarney Brewing and Distilling Co has been carrying out a Series C funding round since October, and has approached accredited investors.

The business is set to go on a roadshow in the US next month, meeting potential backers in New York, Chicago and Wisconsin.

Barry Spellman, managing director of Killarney Brewing and Distilling Co, said it had received “considerable interest” in the funding round so far with just under half raised already.

“This round is to bolster our future growth so it is very important,” he said. “Like all businesses that have gone through Covid and done projects of this size, scale and ambition, there are cost overruns.

“It was around five years ago when we done the last round. The world is a different place – a much more expensive place to be. So, in order to execute on the growth plans we need to raise this money.”

Spellman said the raise had been going “very well” so far, with hopes that it would be complete by the end of the year.

Killarney’s recent results for 2022 included news of the raise. They said the funding would help drive sales through increased marketing and distribution, warehousing opportunities and the development of green initiatives like solar panels.

The Co Kerry firm, which started trading in 2015, recorded a loss of €1.6m for 2022, up from a loss of €513,000 the previous year. Sales hit over €2m, up from €850,000 in 2021.

According to the pitch deck, Killarney, which raised $1.7m in 2014 and €12m in 2020, projected sales would grow to €5.7m in 2023.

Spellman said he remained hopeful Killarney would progress and hit its sales targets.

We have gone from a small local taproom brewery and skipped several rungs in the ladder

“We are very hopeful. This is a very expensive business to be in. We have got to raise this money and get the product out there and finish what we started.

“We have gone from a small local taproom brewery and skipped several rungs in the ladder and are hopefully going to be a significant player in this industry. That takes time.”

Since its last raise, Killarney has opened a large 62,000 sq ft brewery, distillery and visitor centre in Fossa, Co Kerry. Media reports from 2021 suggest the huge site near the Ring of Kerry would represent an investment of over €20m

An article in the Irish Examiner from 2021 said the brewery would employ more than 85 people and aim to attract in excess of 100,000 annual visitors once fully operational.

Killarney is also launching a sourced whiskey product in Ireland and the US by June.