case studyJune 2021
Copperworks Distillery
Size of the team:
3 co-founders, less than 10 employees
Business model:
retail sales, ecommerce sales, distributor sales
# of customers:
22.5K bottles sold in 2019
Amount raised/revenue pre-Wefunder:
$2.2M raised
Accelerator alums:
N/A
Post-close care:
“The most important thing we were looking for is to raise money, but also to create an army of brand ambassadors. We really thought of this not just as a fundraising campaign but literally as a brand ambassador army building.”
Jason Parker
A Very Washington Whiskey 🥃
Copperworks Distillery, an award winning whiskey distillery, raised $760K on Wefunder. They also welcomed more than 400 ambassadors into their community to help spread the word about Copperworks’ malted barley based whiskey, gin, and vodka. The distillery has made a big impact on the Seattle waterfront and sold large volumes of their product throughout Washington state. And they have even bigger plans ahead…
Pre-Launch Prep
When Copperworks needed to raise money for ingredients to expand their production capability, co-founder and president Jason Parker considered several options. Wefunder popped on his radar as the first crowdfunding platform and the ~best in class~ solution. Here are some of Jason’s tips for a successful raise:
- Demonstrate traction with early investors.Jason’s earliest investors were friends and family who were thrilled to finally be able to financially support the distillery. Within a week, they were already 30% funded, showing page visitors they had traction.
- Opt for experiential perks, not things.Jason ensured that the perks for each investor level were things investors couldn’t just walk into the distillery and buy. Instead of t-shirts, glassware, or standard tours, the campaign offered investors perks like sitting in on a special tasting, choosing a new barrel, or being on the board of directors.
- Collect and display customer testimonials.Your customers are your biggest advocates. Jason collected hundreds of testimonials from customers on why they were motivated to invest. These helped generate excitement among potential investors.
- Use your existing email list.Since Copperworks was a well established distillery prior to their campaign, they’d built up an email list of 12,000+ subscribers. Jason made sure to email his community about the launch of their campaign and invite them to invest.
- Keep investors in the loop, post-close.Once he closed the round, Jason sent out thank you notes, posted regular updates about the campaign, and individually contacted many investors. This post-close care helps to enhance the sense of buy-in and consequent ‘brand ambassadorship’ he was looking to solidify through raising in the first place.
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