Stroud-headquartered sustainable wine brand When in Rome has reason to raise a glass after a successful crowdfunding bid to raise £400,000.
A total of 180 investors pledged their support so the firm can develop the recyclable packaging it has built its brand around, fund product development, hire key staff and expand its distribution.
Rob Malin, chief executive officer of When in Rome, said: ‘We’re so pleased. We wanted to give everyone the opportunity to own a little piece of When in Rome and join us on our mission to become the leading premium alt wine brand globally and achieve revenue of £20m by 2025.’
Malin founded the Chalford-headquartered business in 2015 with Andrea Marchesi and Lorenzo Canali, with the aim of bringing Italian wine to the world in the most sustainable way possible – pioneering the use of the bag-in-box and cans.
In 2017 it signed a deal for its brand to be sold in Waitrose and the firm also began trading into Finland and Canada in 2018 and 2019.
Revenue increased from £379,000 in 2019 to £654,000 in 2020, with the business also launching a new line of boxed wines alongside TV presenter Philip Schofield, exclusively for Waitrose stores and Waitrose Cellar.
According to When In Rome, bag-in-box wine creates 41 per cent less carbon compared to a traditional glass bottled wine.
By Andrew Merrell
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