⚡ How this Gin Start-Up Built an International Brand with Samples and a Backpack

Morning Innovators ⚡ In less than 5 minutes, we’ll cover…

🥳 The best funding opportunities, events and jobs in the start-up world
📰 The biggest news stories in the start-up world
🍸 How this Gin Start-Up built an international brand using samples and a backpack
🛂 How you can use a bad customer to bring in your dream customers
👩‍🎨 A tool that allows you to use AI to improve your UI

✨ Last weeks most clicked link was this link taking you to Jeanine Suah’s LinkedIn post in which she states she’s looking to invest $100,000 across 4 Pre-Seed Companies.

Happy hustling,
Rich

🎤 Events/Opportunities

📱Araya Ventures have just closed a $10.9 million fund to invest into 50-60 companies across HealthTech, FinTech, Commerce and Work. If this is you, send your raise details to [email protected].

💻 FuelFounder VC are investing up to €250,000 in to early stage companies across HRTech, SportsTech, Crypto, AI and InsureTech - take a look here.

💸 Female founders rise are running an accelerator for female founders looking to fundraise, led by Dan Bowyer of SuperSeed VC. You can find out more here.

🤲 Barclays Eagle Labs are running their Product Growth Programme to help founding teams get from MVP to product market fit, you can find out more here.

🧑‍💻 UI/UX Designer, ScaleMath
👷 Fullstack Engineer, Lightdash
🧑‍🎨 Product Manager, Enode

📈 N26-Backer, Redalpine, closes 7th fund of $200m Sifted

🦹 France formally charges Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, over organised crime on the app. TechCrunch

🫰OpenAI reportedly in talks to close a new funding round at $100bn valuation. TechCrunch

🏦 UK Tech Funding Round-Up: This week’s deals from Fresha to Gradient Labs. UKTN

Toca Vida Gin: A Fusion of Cultures in Every Sip

Toca Vida Gin is an award-winning craft gin brand, founded in May 2022 by an American and a Welshman. The gin is a citrus-forward blend, handcrafted with Cuban grapefruit and Sicilian lemons and limes, and distilled at the historic Hensol Castle Distillery in Wales. The name "Toca Vida," meaning "Touch Life" in Spanish, reflects the brand's ethos of adventure and cultural connection. Toca Vida Gin is designed for those who appreciate fine spirits and seek to enhance their cocktail experiences with a premium, globally-inspired product. This gin is for individuals who enjoy exploring new flavors and engaging in meaningful conversations, with the spirit of cultural fusion at its heart.

Acquiring the First Customers: Grassroots Outreach

Toca Vida Gin’s first customers were secured through direct, grassroots efforts. Without a dedicated sales or marketing team, the founders took a hands-on approach, personally visiting local establishments in Cardiff, such as Wally’s, Tiny Rebel, and Gin and Juice. They carried samples of their gin in a backpack, introducing themselves and offering tastings to the staff and owners. This method allowed them to establish an initial customer base by letting the quality of their product speak for itself. As the brand grew, they expanded their outreach through social media and participation in local trade shows, such as the Caerphilly and Neath Food and Drink Festivals. These events provided valuable opportunities for direct interaction with consumers, helping to build brand awareness and loyalty. Winning the prestigious title of World’s Best Contemporary Gin significantly boosted the brand's visibility and credibility, which they leveraged in their advertising campaigns to attract more B2C customers and larger distributors.

Scaling the Business: Strategic Growth and Market Expansion

To move beyond their initial customer base and scale the business, Toca Vida Gin employed a multi-channel approach. Social media became a key platform for sharing the brand’s story and engaging with a broader audience. They created content that highlighted the unique fusion of American and Welsh influences, their commitment to quality, and their award-winning gin. The brand continued to participate in regional trade shows, which provided opportunities for personal engagement with potential customers and industry players. Winning prestigious awards played a crucial role in scaling efforts, enhancing the brand’s credibility and making it easier to attract larger distributors. Collaborations with industry influencers and partners helped Toca Vida Gin access new markets and demographics, driving steady growth.

Funding the Start-Up: Bootstrapping and Reinvestment

Toca Vida Gin was initially bootstrapped with an investment of approximately $10,000 to $15,000. This capital covered essential start-up costs, including product development, licensing, and the first production runs. As the business grew, the founders reinvested profits into marketing, product innovation, and market expansion. Economies of scale played a significant role in improving profitability. By increasing production volumes, Toca Vida Gin was able to negotiate better terms with suppliers and streamline operations, ultimately enhancing profit margins.

Challenges and Failures: Navigating Distribution and Market Expansion

One of the biggest challenges Toca Vida Gin faced was navigating the complexities of distribution and market expansion. As a premium gin brand, they targeted boutique stores and upscale cocktail bars rather than mainstream grocery stores. This niche positioning made it challenging to secure "whale" customers who could place large orders. Additionally, finding the right distributors was difficult, as many required substantial margins, squeezing the brand’s profit margins. Expanding into new markets, particularly the United States, also presented regulatory and legal obstacles, adding complexity and cost to operations.

Lessons Learned: Thorough Market Research and Strategic Planning

Thorough Market Research: Toca Vida Gin learned the importance of thoroughly researching suppliers and partners. Initially, they chose suppliers based on convenience, which impacted their profit margins. Over time, they discovered more cost-effective options through comprehensive market research.

Networking and Relationships: Building and maintaining strong relationships with other business owners and industry peers proved invaluable. Networking provided insights and opportunities that were crucial for navigating challenges and fostering growth.

Developing a Growth Plan: One of the key lessons was the importance of having a detailed growth strategy from the start. Initially, the brand struggled with direction after the successful release of their first product. A clear growth plan with defined milestones and objectives would have helped avoid delays and align the brand’s expansion efforts with their goals.

Planning a trip away for business or for pleasure?

Finalrentals, a pioneering car rental fintech headquartered in Wales, has revolutionised the industry with its innovative approach and product-centric strategy. By addressing key challenges within the car rental sector, Finalrentals has experienced remarkable growth, increasing its size sixfold in the past 12 months. The company's expansion is not limited to growth metrics alone; it has also successfully established a robust global presence, extending its footprint across the EU and the Caribbean.

Book your rental here!

We’ve all been told to niche down and find our key customer profile, but the Snowbird team have taken that to a whole new level with this marketing campaign.

Snowbird is a ski resort that is known for being particularly difficult, built for the most advanced skiers and snowboarders. So, how can they cut through the noise and speak directly to those elite winter sports athletes? By highlighting how much the lower level skiers and snowboarders absolutely HATED Snowbird.

They used a series of billboards like this that showed reviews from less skilled visitors labelling the resort “Too Advanced” or “Not Friendly to Beginners”. Not only does this manage to speak to those who are skilled enough to take on Snowbird, it also encourages them to take the challenge.

How can you use reviews from people who are the complete opposite to your ideal customer profile to talk to your dream customers?

Each week we highlight our favourite tools - either something we’ve been using in our businesses, or tools that our innovator community have recommended.

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Next week I’ll be highlighting another awesome Start-Up (if you want us to feature you, drop us a message), as well as sharing all the usuals including funding opportunities, Start-Up news, plus plenty of awesome tips, tricks and tools.

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