The health and wellbeing trend has been well-documented in recent times, but the strength of that trend has been highlighted by the huge growth that Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirit Co has seen since its launch last year.
Lyre’s has just announced the successful closure of seed round funding, which has secured $16m in growth capital, which the company says is the most material investment the category has seen.
The investment will be used for core product growth, category innovation and new market expansion. It will also enable Lyre to cement its leadership position in the non-alcoholic spirits category.
Mark Livings, Lyre’s CEO and Co-founder said: “This growth positions the Lyre’s brand for continued success and leadership with high quality non-alcoholic alternatives in one of the fastest-growth consumer brand categories in the world.
“Our business anticipates and matches the trends of the consumer and culture and our current product innovation is being developed to match alcohol spirit flavours and styles. Lyre’s was created to shake up the drinks category and put the choice back into the consumer’s social occasion to drink freely.
“The recognition from the multiple, respected, international award competitions shows we clearly have something that is resonating.”
Even in the challenging climate that has been 2020, a focus on the direct-to-consumer segment has delivered Lyre’s 400 per cent monthly recurring revenue growth since January. Not surprisingly this has exceeded all previous company forecasts.
It’s this base and the funding, which puts Lyre’s in a strong position for the year ahead.
“The next year demarcates our business evolution from a start-up to a true multinational beverage company, with manufacturing in multiple, global locations, compliance for new markets and continued recruitment firmly at the top of our task list,” Livings said.
“We’ll need all aspects of our plan to come together, delivered by a great team of people with the Lyre’s esprit de corps to grow our leadership position in the non-alcoholic spirits category.”
Fellow Co-founder Carl Hartmann, said the major participants in the seed round include VRD Investment, Doehler Ventures, DLF Venture and Maropost Ventures with a number of European, American and Australasian family offices and HNWI also participating.
“The investors we’ve brought into this business see value well beyond the short to medium-term impacts of the pandemic and will bring significantly more value beyond their participation from a capital perspective,” Hartmann said.
“Good companies with strong fundamentals and a truly unique market offering can always raise money, even in challenging times.”
The non-alcoholic category is rapidly emerging with triple-digit growth experienced globally in the last 12 months driven by health, lifestyle and responsibility factors across all age groups.
As leading innovators in the category, Lyre’s is looking forward to a strong summer with the launch of a Ready-To-Drink range to expand the opportunity for people to enjoy a Lyre’s with increased convenience.
“Lyre’s is a black swan emergence of an entirely new consumer products category,” Livings said. “I can’t wait to see what we can do in our next 12 months.”