Crushpad Crushes Grapes, Not the Little Guy: Crowdfunding Your Next Merlot
Crushpad has recently announced a new program it calls Crushpad Syndicate. The program is designed to help individuals and companies interested in creating small wine brands raise money through crowdfunding. Crushpad also takes care of the licensing, sourcing, legal compliance, and other paperwork that is associated with syndication.
Crushpad’s overall goal is to create a more level playing field between large wineries and enthusiasts. Large wineries have seen a lot of success emerge from close relationships with investors. Crushpad plans on bringing those same factors into play for brands producing as little as 50 cases. Syndicate builds off of Crushpad Commerce, launched in 2006. Commerce provides boutique wine brands with professional distribution and sales networks, enabling them to maintain profitability.
Clients who are groups of people make more wine, sell more wine and have more fun. Wine is an inherently social product and Syndicate not only helps obtain the necessary startup capital and provides a built-in marketing team, it also makes the whole thing a lot more fun.
Michael Brill, CEO of Crushpad
Syndicate was also specifically designed to provide flexibility to both investors and wine brand owners. Brand owners and investors can choose from several different financing models including debt, equity, and revenue sharing. Because the wine brands are crowdfunded they enjoy increased exposure among investors’ social networks as well as a reduced level of risk for each individual investor.
About Crushpad
Since its launch in 2004, Crushpad has created 5,000 different wines and grown into the worlds largest producer of custom wines, focusing on small brands that want to produce between 25 and 100 cases a year Over 200 wine brands have been successfully launched since the Crushpad Commerce program began. With the introduction of crowdfunding via Syndicate, that number is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years.