Burnt Faith, the UK brandy business, is looking to raise funds through Crowdcube to invest in inventory and distribution.
The company, set up in 2021, principally sells in the UK but, in recent months, has begun shipping to India.
Speaking to Just Drinks, Burnt Faith founder Simon Wright said the Crowdcube push could be used to support a potential entry into the US.
“As part of the raise, if we do better than expected, then we will be looking at pushing an agreement with a distillery out in the US for access to a brandy out there,” Wright said. “One of the things that we would do if we raised a good amount would be to expedite the inroads into that. At the moment, it’s just a project there waiting on hold until we get some funds to support it, really.”
Wright declined to put a potential timetable on a US launch. “I wouldn’t want to put anything down on paper in terms of ‘we’ll be launching in 2026’ because it is depending [on the funding round] but there’s an opportunity there for us in the future if we can raise the funds for it."
He refused to be drawn on the amount Burnt Faith is looking to raise through the Crowdcube campaign, citing changes in the platform’s disclosure policy.
Last year, Burnt Faith, based in north-east London, raised £2m ($2.7m). Early investors have included Keith Greggor, the former co-owner of Anchor Brewing and once a shareholder in Skyy Spirits. The round valued Burnt Faith at £4.3m.
In Burnt Faith’s 2024/25 financial year, the company generated revenue of around £600,000, compared to £120,000 a year earlier. It is forecasting revenue of approximately £1.4m in its current 2025/26 financial year, Wright said.
The business is moving into the RTD category, launching two products in the UK.
“These RTDs are another step in breaking down barriers to brandy. We want consumers to try new and explorative drinks but sometimes this needs to be in a format that encourages trial,” Wright said.
The drinks – a Brandy & Apple variant and a Brandy & Ginger SKU – are 6.2% abv and have an RRP of £3.50. Talks with potential retail stockists are ongoing.
Despite the range of spirit-based RTDs on sale in UK retailers, Wright believes Burnt Faith’s products can prosper.
“I think talking to retailers, when it comes to spirit-based RTDs, they want the best from each category. Brandy as a liquid works really, really well in an RTD because the liquid so versatile," he said.
"There hasn’t been a premium brand anyway in the brandy category that’s done an RTD yet. Hopefully by doing that, it’ll bring some fresh life into the category because that’s the problem with brandy, right? It’s a bit staid and a bit traditional. Changing the format and putting brandy in different format will hopefully have quite a lot of appeal.”
