Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners is the latest group to invest in ready-to-drink brand The Finnish Long Drink, the company announced today.
Marcy Venture Partners— the firm co-founded by rapper/mogul Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter; CEO of RocNation Jay Brown, and Larry Marcus—has made a “significant investment in the brand to support the Finnish Long Drink’s continued momentum within the U.S. market,” read a statement.
Carter, a noted investor and entrepreneur in addition to his music career, has history in the alcohol business, having acquired U.S. distribution rights in 2002 for Scottish vodka maker Armadale in his role as co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records. Last year, a year-long legal dispute with Bacardi was resolved when the spirits giant announced it has agreed to acquire the majority of Cognac venture D’ussé, with Carter retaining a significant ownership stake through his company SCLiquor.
Now his firm joins a roster of other celebrities like actor Miles Teller, DJ Kygo, and professional golfer Rickie Fowler backing one of the highest-selling RTD brands, inspired by a Finnish gin cocktail. Since debuting in 2018, the brand has closed multiple fundraising rounds, the largest reaching $25 million in July 2021. Other backers include Founders Brewing Company co-founder Mike Stevens and a number of athletes and entertainment industry figures.
Launched by the Finnish trio of Sakari Manninen, Mikael Taipale and Ere Partanen, alongside American entrepreneur Evan Burns, the brand offers four interpretations of the beverage it describes as a citrus soda with real liquor. Those expressions include traditional, zero (sugar-free and carbless), cranberry, peach, and strong (which ups the ABV from 5.5% to 8.5%). It’s one of a few RTDs that have found success becoming the call brand through building their respective stories around very specific cocktails that haven’t yet hit the mainstream.
Since its U.S. launch, The Finnish Long Drink has doubled its sales each year, reaching nearly 2 million nine-liter case sales in 2023, according to the brand. The RTD increased dollar sales 91.9% in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels in the last 52 weeks ending April 20, outpacing the total RTD category at 36.6%.
Marcy Venture Partners has made other headlines recently, as it is reportedly close to finalizing a billion-dollar merger with the investment arm of Pendulum Holdings. Marcy Venture includes a diverse range of businesses in its portfolio from Rihanna’s Savage Fenty, to chicken nugget startup Simulate, and to the parenting resource Babylist. The firm has also invested in allergen-friendly cookie maker Partake Foods, and outside of MVP, Carter has investments in Oatly and Impossible Foods Inc.