Wicklow Wolf Brewing Company has received investment of €2 million which will see the craft brewery fund a new, larger site, enabling it to increase production 15-fold.
Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) Food Syndicate invested €722,000 into the company, making it one of the leading stakeholders. Other backers in the deal included a joint initiative of InterTradeIreland and Enterprise Ireland as well as a number of private investors.
Wicklow Wolf, which only started brewing in August 2014, will use the investment to expand domestically as well as exporting its beers to international markets such as USA, Asia and Europe, with its number of staff to increase by 20 over the next five years. It is the Food Syndicate’s second investment in Wicklow Wolf in just 18 months, totalling more than €800,000. Currently the brewery supplies its beers to 150 pubs and 550 off-licenses across Ireland.
Quincey Fennelly, co-founder and CEO at Wicklow Wolf Brewing Company, said: "Wicklow Wolf started off small, selling to local pubs and off-licenses. We wanted to make sure we had a solid base at home before we even thought about selling abroad. As soon as we started brewing, the local support we received from the people in Wicklow was unbelievable and it continues to be just as strong. We feel that now we are well-positioned to bring Wicklow Wolf to the next level and the investment will be crucial to that."
Stephen Twaddell, Chair of the HBAN Food Syndicate added: "They [Wicklow Wolf] had been through the Food Works Ireland programme, a joint initiative between Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia and Teagasc, that aims to develop food entrepreneurs. That provided them with very good grounding, but they also have their own spirit and zeal and we could really feel that. Investment decisions for the syndicate are never easy, but this was a stand-out initiative."
