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Chapel Down raises bar as crowdfunding passes £1mln marker

Published: 22:45 18 Nov 2015 AEDT

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Capitalism begins at home: about a third of the investment comes from within Kent

English winery and brewer Chapel Down Group has extended its ongoing crowdfunding equity raise up to £3.65mln, after beating its initial funding target of £1mln.

Chapel Down, which is raising funds to grow its Curious Drinks brand of beers and ciders, has secured £655,000 of capital via the Seedrs crowdfunding platform and £345,000 through a more traditional stock market share placing.

The company is now keeping the books open until February.

A total of 529 new investors have so far put money into the funding scheme, with investments between £100 and £25,000 a piece, and the company highlighted that almost a third of the money raised so far had come from within Kent.

With the injection of cash Chapel Down can now proceed with plans to build a new brewery, in Ashford, and the new facility is expected to be ready by December next year.

It says the new facility will for the first time consolidate brewing and bottling operation onto one site, boosting margins and efficiencies.

Frazer Thompson, Chapel Down chief executive, in a statement said: “We are delighted with how the Curious Drinks fundraising has gone in its first four weeks and are truly humbled by the phenomenal response we have received.

“We have seen a huge amount of interest from both customers and individual investors.

“We believe this is testament to the fact that these are not only great beers and cider but also a worthy investment opportunity, and we hope to welcome many more shareholders to Curious Drinks in the coming months.”

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