InvestBev Awards SUYO Pisco $100,000 in Sprout Beverage Pitch Competition

Sprout Beverage, InvestBev's invite-only start-up accelerator for emerging adult beverage brands, today announces SUYO Pisco as the winner of its Spring 2024 cohort pitch competition and ROCOCO Tokyo as its runner-up. The brands competed with ten other promising beverage start-ups for a total of $150,000 investment in capital and services from InvestBev.*

Twice a year, InvestBev's accelerator provides select adult beverage founders with a three month program of education, mentoring, and resources from experienced alcohol industry leaders to help them succeed in the highly competitive adult beverage market.

Pitch Day serves as the pinnacle of the program, where founders compete for investment in a room packed with beverage industry insiders and investors. In addition to the two winners, this year's participating brands included Absinthia, Bootleggers Cocktails, Doce Mezcal, Estoico Indigo Tequila, Levenswater Gin, LIXIR of the gods Hard Honey, OKSEN French Rum, Santo de Piedra Mezcal, Sueño de Atzo Tequila and Avanas Vodka. Judges included investors from leading CPG investment firms InvestBev, Okeanos and others, who selected a winner based on the founder's insights and understanding of their target consumer and market, strategic growth plan, and early traction and success indicators.

SUYO Pisco was founded by former consultants Alex Hildebrandt and Ian Leggett, who saw an opportunity to introduce the world to Peru's national spirit while supporting local vineyards. The brand works directly with independent pisco producers to develop and distribute all-natural, single origin, limited release pisco that is made with zero additives.

"We're excited to partner with Alex, Ian and the SUYO Pisco team as they expand the market for pisco in the US. We see this as an emerging frontier for the spirits category, in much the same way we've seen demand for tequila and mezcal grow over the past decade," said Brian Rosen, founder of InvestBev. "We're honored to have SUYO Pisco join our InvestBev brand portfolio with other beverage industry innovators. With this graduation, InvestBev's accelerator portfolio now has over 30 brands."

Sprout Beverage accepts brands in the alcoholic, non-alcoholic, and cannabis categories, with founders who have demonstrated initial market validation and products that expand existing segments or create new ones. The accelerator is led by industry veteran Gustavo Aguirre, who previously oversaw the product innovation program at MillerCoors. Sprout Beverage is currently accepting applications for the Fall 2024 cohort. For more information or to apply, visit SproutBeverage.com.

*All investment is contingent on the successful submission and passing of the InvestBev due diligence process that occurs post-cohort.

ABOUT SPROUT BEVERAGE

Sprout is an invite-only accelerator for the most promising adult beverage brands. Founders receive actionable advice and connections to build and scale their brands faster. Sprout Beverage is a part of the Growth Beverage ecosystem, a collective of companies that support independent beverage brands across all stages of their journey - from inception through exit. To learn more, visit sproutbeverage.com.