Close

Jump to:

  • Navigation
  • Content
  • Footer
Nc'nean hero image

Nc'nean

Follow

We're a young independent distillery on a quest to drive sustainability and innovation in Scotch whisky

116%
 - 
Funded 13 Dec 2019
£1,000,009 target
£1,164,117 from 292 investors
More
Less

Business overview

Location Oban, United Kingdom
Social media
Website www.ncnean.com
Sectors Food & Beverage Non-Digital Mixed B2B/B2C
Company number SC445789
Incorporation date 22 Mar 2013
More
Less

Investment summary

Type Equity
Valuation (pre-money) £16.6M
Equity offered 6.55%
Tax relief

EIS

More
Less

Business highlights

  • £7.5 million already raised since launch
  • Organic distillery powered by renewable energy built from scratch
  • £360,000 of whisky sold in cask before pouring a bottle
  • 1st product, a Botanical Spirit, known for quality and innovation
More
Less

Key features

  • Secondary Market
  • Seedrs nominee min. £12.83 +
  • Idea
  • Key Information
  • Team
  • Updates
  • Investors 292
  • Discussion
  • Documents

Idea

Introduction

Nc'nean Distillery is a young, independent, organic whisky distillery on the west coast of Scotland. Our mission is to create experimental spirits and pioneer sustainable production.

Founded by Annabel Thomas and Derek Lewis in 2013, the distillery was completed in early 2017 after raising £7.5million. We began distilling single malt in March 2017 and have laid down over 1,500 casks of whisky to date.

The company and brand is becoming known for having a truly differentiated approach, both to making whisky and other spirits. Our first product, the Nc'nean Botanical Spirit, has been well received by consumers and the trade and was recognised as one of the top 10 most innovative spirits of 2018.

We are confident that the first whisky we will release in 2020 will be excellent, and we have already sold £360,000 worth of Nc'nean whisky before the first bottle has even been poured.

Intended impact

MADE BY NATURE NOT BY RULES

1. An uncompromising focus on sustainability

All Nc'nean products are certified organic, we use only renewable energy and we recycle our waste products back to the farm. And we sweat the small stuff: we measure and minimise our waste, we recycle our cooling water.

2. A quiet challenge to the norms of Scotch

We believe that Scotch is not being adopted by younger drinkers because they perceive it as elitist or old fashioned. And that the Scotch whisky industry is failing to keep up with the ever-changing world around it. Our mission is to change that.

We are doing that by distilling spirits and developing products that quietly challenge the status quo. Our first product, the Nc'nean Botanical Spirit, has done just that: awarded as one of the most innovative spirit launches of 2018, it has been featured in the Telegraph, Times, FT and others.

This has created real anticipation for our whisky: a modern, organic Scotch, designed to be drunk in a soda highball, by a diverse, younger consumer.

Substantial accomplishments to date

Business

- Raised £7.5million from equity, debt and grants to finance the build and operating costs to date

- Our first product, the 'Botanical Spirit', has been well received and recognised as an innovative product

- We have sold £360,000 worth of whisky in barrel to private individuals, showing great demand for our product before we have even released a bottle

Distillery

- Based on the west coast of Scotland, we built a completely new distillery from the ground up

- Includes the full process from milling to filling casks which are stored on-site

- Current capacity is c. 95,000 litres of pure alcohol per year (c. 225,000 70cl bottles of whisky).

- More than 1,500 casks of whisky filled to date (c. 450,000 70cl bottles of whisky) with a value of over £2 million in March 2019.

Press

- We have had excellent press coverage, from mainstream newspapers and magazines to television

- Sunday Brunch tested our Botanical Spirit live on-air and Simon Rimmer (presenter and chef) said "I've got to say, that is delicious'

- Voted top 10 most innovative spirits of 2018 by the Spirits Business

- Annabel voted one of the top 10 women to watch by About Time Magazine

- Featured in The Telegraph, The Times, Hello!, The Guardian, The FT

Distribution

- We are stocked in a variety of premium bars and restaurants across the UK including London, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

- We are also stocked at bricks and mortar and online retailers, including Berry Brothers and the Whisky Exchange.

Monetisation strategy

As we have for our Botanical Spirit, we plan to sell our whisky directly, as well as through the off and on trade. Direct (at the distillery, via our website) is likely to be small, though we aim for this to be higher margin.

In the UK, we plan to initially to appoint a distributor in order to benefit from their sales team, logistics and relationships with wholesalers. We may choose over time to develop our own sales team. At the moment we work with Highball brands, a UK distributor, but also have direct relationships with key retailers (e.g. Berry Brothers).

In export markets, we will appoint an importer / distributor who knows the market and understands what we are trying to achieve. We are already in discussion with potential partners in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Scandinavia.

In addition, we will continue to offer casks of whisky for sale to private individuals to support our cash position and brand.

Use of proceeds

Over the next four years, we plan to use our brand and product story to establish Nc'nean at the forefront of contemporary Scotch. The proceeds will be used, along with income from sales and support from bank debt, to:

1. Fund marketing and sales efforts to launch our whisky in summer 2020 (with the aim to scale to 100,000 bottles) and invest to grow our Botanical Spirit by expanding production and sales and marketing (with the aim to scale to 42,000 bottles).

2. Continue laying down spirit for future whisky stocks (cost of malt, energy, production team salaries)

3. Capital investment, primarily in a house for staff accommodation and a bottling line

If we are able to raise more than our target we will also be able to:

4. Build an additional warehouse on-site to save transport/storage costs

5. Invest to launch second new-make based product designed to take advantage of the low alcohol trend

Investor perks

We'd love to offer the perks below for our investors:

Invest £500: £20 voucher to spend by August 2020

Invest £1k: 15% off for a year + early bird access to all new releases

Invest £5k: as above + free distillery tours for next 5 years

Invest £10k: as above + free limited edition Aged Botanical Spirit gift pack

Invest £25k: as above + VIP distillery trip in 2020 or 2021

Please note that any discounts, rewards and/or offers listed by a company in its campaign are subject to the terms and conditions applied by that company and listed above. It is the company’s responsibility to honour such discounts, rewards and/or offers and Seedrs does not take any responsibility for them.

Key Information

Debt

The company has the following outstanding loans:

- A secured £2m revolving credit facility from a bank at an interest rate of 4.3% over LIBOR per annum. This loan is secured with a floating charge over the company's assets and a personal guarantee from a director and a shareholder of the company.

The facility is to be repaid on January 2023 and has £440,000 remaining to be drawn down subject to provision of additional security.
There is a second-ranking floating charge in favour of those providing the personal guarantee

The company has a written confirmation of an extension to this facility when this fundraising round closes. This will extend the total facility to £3m (maintaining the same interest rate).

- A shareholder loan of £300,000, which is to be converted into equity on this round. This equity has been included in the pre-money valuation in this round.

- The company intends to purchase a house for employees which will be c. 70% funded by a loan from the same bank, the details of which are being currently being agreed.

Related party transaction

The company leases the land for the distillery from an existing shareholder and a director of the company.

Open an account to get access to the team members of Nc'nean

Sign up

Already have an account? Log in

To comply with financial regulations, we can only show full campaign details to registered users.

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Share on:

Investing involves risks, including loss of capital, illiquidity, lack of dividends and dilution, and should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. Please read the Risk Warnings before investing. Investments should only be made by investors who understand these risks. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future.

This webpage has been approved as a financial promotion by Seedrs Limited ("Seedrs"), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. It is not intended to be a promotion of any individual investment opportunity and is not an offer to the public. The summary information provided about investment opportunities on this webpage is intended solely to demonstrate the types of investments available on the Seedrs platform, and any investment decision should be made on the basis of the full campaign. Full campaigns are available to investors who have become authorised to invest on the Seedrs platform. All investment activities take place within the United Kingdom, and any person resident outside the United Kingdom should ensure that they are not subject to any local regulations before investing.

Seedrs does not make investment recommendations to you. No communications from Seedrs, through this website or any other medium, should be construed as an investment recommendation. Further, nothing on this website shall be considered an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security to any person in any jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. Seedrs does not provide legal, financial or tax advice of any kind. If you have any questions with respect to legal, financial or tax matters relevant to your interactions with Seedrs, you should consult a professional adviser.

Tax Relief (SEIS)

This business is eligible for SEIS relief - providing qualifying investors with income tax relief of 50% of their investment and certain other tax reliefs. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future. Click to learn more.

Tax Relief (EIS)

This business is eligible for EIS relief - providing qualifying investors with income tax relief of 30% of their investment and certain other tax reliefs. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future. Click to learn more.

Valuation (pre-money)

Valuation rounded from £16,609,718

This is the fully-diluted pre-money valuation of the business (i.e. before the new investment comes in and including issued options and other equity interests). In contrast, the post-money valuation is based on inclusion of the new investment in the value.

It is calculated as the pre-money valuation plus the amount of new investment. e.g. If Company A is ascribed a pre-money valuation of £1,200,000 by prospective investors investing £300,000, its post-money valuation is £1,500,000.

The investee business is responsible for setting its own valuation, it has not been prescribed by Seedrs.

Pitch type

There are 5 types of investment pitch available on Seedrs.

  • Equity
  • Convertible
  • Fund
  • Cohort
  • Secondary

Investing in a regular equity campaign is the simplest and most common way to invest in a startup. You decide which business you want to invest in, and if the campaign hits its funding target then you will become one of their shareholders. As the company becomes more valuable, so do your shares; allowing you the opportunity to share in the future success of the business.

Learn more about pitch type on Seedrs

Equity Offered

The equity offered is the percentage of the company’s shares being issued in return for the amount of investment raised.

When the amount raised is less than 100%, the equity offered is based on the target raise. Once the company has raised over 100% it is based on the total raised.

In some scenarios, entrepreneurs may accept additional direct investment after closing their Seedrs campaign. Provided this is within 6 months of the closing and on the same terms, we do not typically offer pre-emption rights on that extra investment (where you have the opportunity to invest again to maintain your percentage shareholding).

Learn more about investing and pre-emption rights.

Seedrs nominee

This shows if you are able to choose, when making an investment, that you be represented by, and your shareholding be managed by, the Seedrs nominee.

Find out more

Custodian

If you invest in this Campaign, Seedrs will act as Custodian rather than provide our standard nominee service. This is due to the fact that the business is not directly involved in the share sale and Seedrs will not benefit from any rights under a shareholder agreement. As a result, Seedrs will handle administrative tasks as we do normally, but you will not have information or voting rights, updates from the business, preemption on future fundraising, or ongoing support about business trading activity.

Learn more about Custodian here

Secondary market

This shows if the business has opted-in or opted-out of allowing its shares to be bought and sold on the secondary market.

Find out more

Direct investment

This is an option to invest and hold shares 'directly' in the company (rather than via the Seedrs Nominee). This option is only available to those investing over the threshold amount, which is determined by the fundraising company.

If you choose to hold your shares directly, you will be responsible for any contractual or administrative arrangements with the company you are investing in.

Find out more

Payment options

We are not able to accept card payments for investments into this sector. You can pay for your investment by creating a bank transfer, using funds in your investment account or create a Pay by Bank payment. Your investment will only be completed once the funds have reached our account.

Business Involvement

This Campaign offers shares for sale in business that is not directly involved in this Campaign or the sale. As a result, the Campaign and post-investment experience, including investor rights, will differ from a business-led campaign on Seedrs. Most notably, the business will not engage with investors in the discussion forums both during and after the sale or provide any updates to investors.

Learn more here

Payment options

We are not able to accept Pay by Bank payments for investments into this sector. You can pay for your investment with a card payment, by creating a bank transfer or by using funds in your investment account. Your investment will only be completed once the funds have reached our account.

Drawdowns

This campaign offers the ability to pay for an investment by drawdowns.

Warning

You are following a link outside of www.seedrs.com.

None of the information in constitutes part of the campaign and it has not been approved or reviewed by Seedrs.

ContinueCancel