B9 Beverages, the company producing Bira 91 beers, a low-calorie beer recently raised non-convertible debentures to Anicut Capital, an asset management platform based in Chennai.
The company, backed by American Venture Capital company Sequoia Capital, allotted 100 debentures worth Rs 10 crore to Anicut Capital in Mid-April. In March, the company also raised around Rs 5 crore from the Chennai based asset management company.
Bira 91 is a startup that aims bringing craft beer, “handmade one barrel at a time”, to the Indian public and the United States. The New Delhi-based startup founded in February 2015 aims bringing an alternative quality beer to the international beverages imported in India.
Bira 91 arrived in the Indian market in full force and went from selling 150,000 cases of beer in 2015, its launch year to around 700,000 cases one year later. Additionally, its Bira 91 Light is the first low calorie beer to see the day in India with around 90 calories for a 330 ml bottle.
Its founder, Ankur Jain said about the innovation, “Bira 91 Light is the lowest calorie option for any alcoholic beverage in the bar. It is lower than a glass of champagne, much lower than Breezers, wine or cocktails are. It’s even lower than a glass of milk or orange juice.”
The startup has previously raised 4 rounds of funding; a Series A funding of $6 Million led by Sequoia Capital in January 2016, a Series B funding round worth $10 Million from TR Capital in late June 2016, a Series C funding round worth $8 million from Sequoia Capital in August 2017 and more recently a Convertible Note funding worth Rs 250 million from Anicut Capital in December 2017.