Moonshine alcoholic beverage company Ronin Wines has raised around $2 million in its ongoing Pre-Series A round led by Anthill Ventures. Auxano Capital, Supermorpheus, Merisis and existing and new angel investors also participated in the funding round.
Ronin Wines will use the funds to expand its product – Moonshine Meadery in existing markets including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam and Silvassa. In addition, it will deploy funds to enter new markets including Haryana and West Bengal as well as export its products to international markets.
Founded in 2016 by Rohan Rehani and Nitin Vishwas, Pune-based Ronin Wines produces homemade meads. To make its Moonshine Meadery sub-brand, the startup uses a host of ingredients, including multi-flower honey, orange blossom honey, coffee beans, guava, apples, chilli peppers and kaffir lime, according to the statement.
Rohan Rehani, Co-founder of Ronin Wines, said, “With Moonshine, we’re trying to fill a taste gap for consumers as they move from juices and colas to beer and spirits. After we won at IWSC, we got interest from importers from all over the world. The current increase in funding will enable us to unlock opportunities not only nationally but also internationally.”
Ronin Wines added, “It launched a strong Portside mead in 2021 and is considering entering the high ABV (alcohol volume) still mead segment later this year (2022).”
Prasad Vanga, Partner at Anthill Ventures, said, “Meads are an exciting, fast-growing category for Alco-Bev. Ronin has created an eclectic brand of mead that is already seeing excellent market traction from discerning consumers looking for new flavours and tastes. Anthill Ventures is delighted to be a lead partner in Ronin’s journey.”
According to the statement, most Indian meads are low in alcohol by volume (ABV) and carbonated. Additionally, it often faces competition from the premium beer and RTD segments, which are worth around $5 billion in 2020.
In the mead segment, a subsector of the alcohol industry, Ronin Wines faces competition from Cerana Meads, Portside Mead and Arka Rose, among others.
According to the report, the global mead beverage industry, which was pegged at USD 432.4 million in 2020, is likely to become a market valued at USD 1,621 billion by 2028. The industry will expand at a CAGR of 18.71% during 2021-2028.
