Craft Clubs has secured an investment of £75,000 in the BBC television series Dragons' Den by the co-founder and resident of the London Cocktail Club, Dragon Sarah Willingham. Craft Clubs, the company responsible for the subscription beverage service, Craft gin Club and Bubble Club, has secured an investment of £75,000 from Sarah Willingham, food and beverage entrepreneur and co-founder of the London Cocktail Club. The first show in the new series, which aired on July 24, saw the co-founders of Craft Clubs, Jon Hulme and John Burke, receive the investment in exchange for a 12.5% stake in their startup company and an advisory role to Willingham within the company in its attempt to expand and grow over the next 12 weeks. Every month, club members receive a surprise box of handmade gin or high-quality sparkling wines from small producers, along with mixers, ingredients for cocktails and other treats, and a club magazine.
To date, clubs have shipped more than 25,000 bottles of artisanal gin and sparkling wine to their members across the United Kingdom. So what was the Dragon's Den experience really like? We asked John, Jon and Sarah what they remember from their appearance in that fateful episode; here's what they said. It got a little hot in The Den during the performance, but it turns out the Dragons really like gin. After investment offers from four out of five dragons, Jon and John left with an investment of £75,000 from the co-founder of the London Cocktail Club, Sarah Willingham.
Willingham will play an active role in guiding the subscription service, which already ships more than 4,000 bottles of gin and sparkling wine every month to members across the United Kingdom. The first program in the new series will show the co-founders of Craft Clubs, Jon Hulme and John Burke, receiving the investment in exchange for a 12.5% stake in their startup company and an advisory role to Willingham within the company, in its attempt to expand and grow over the next twelve months. The couple began their Dragons' Den experience with the hope of attracting investment from Willingham, impressed by her success and experience in the food and beverage industry. That fateful day, Jon and John managed to impress all of the Dragons, winning offers from all four.
With a goal of increasing 2 million pounds sterling, Gin Bond 2 offers members and consumers the opportunity to invest in the business and earn interest profits in cash or boxes of gin. After a tough negotiation, the couple accepted Willingham's offer of 75,000 pounds in exchange for 12.5% of capital; the investor's successful track record in the beverage industry, together with her surprising admission that she was already a customer of the gin club Craft, made her their favorite Dragon. The clubs are described as the UK's “number one discovery clubs for gin enthusiasts and sparkling wine fans, respectively. The money raised through the bonds will be used to finance the company's next stage of development, as it continues its mission to “share with the nation its passion for fantastic artisanal gins”.
After the country switched to drinking at home during the lockdown, the number of members increased by 66 percent, selling the equivalent of a gin and tonic every 2.5 seconds.
