If 500 Tampa Bay residents invest, a Scottish craft brewery will look into opening a brewpub here. That brewery? BrewDog, known for its "Equity for Punks" crowdfunding efforts that have help the company raise $45 million worldwide to open 50 bars in 11 countries, including locales like London, Tokyo and Rome.
The European import — whose U.S. expansion continues with a 110,000-square-foot brewery that's set to launch in Columbus, Ohio, in spring — will gauge the region's interest in one of its iconic brewpubs during an investment meeting and party at St. Petersburg's soon-to-open American Freedom Distillery.
Hosted by Kendall Almerico, BrewDog's securities attorney from BankRoll Ventures, the event is open to the public (business leaders or otherwise) and scheduled for 5 p.m. Feb. 25.
BrewDog, which is hoping to establish a lineup of brewpubs around America, launched Equity for Punks USA last year, gaining nearly 5,000 investors and $1 million in the first three days to help finance its Columbus facility. San Diego, Chicago and 10 cities in Ohio, among others, have already proven their investor support for a BrewDog brewpub.
"With on-site brewing in each U.S. BrewPub, we can take our bar concept to another level as we brew the beer made in the building, as well as serve brews from like-minded breweries — the beer we offer will be as fresh as possible every single time," said BrewDog CEO James Watt in a statement. "We're already experimenting with some awesome recipes before we've even set our sights on specific cities, and this is your chance to help shape those decisions for yourself."
BrewDog USA investors that contribute a minimum of $95 will score equity shares in the company, as well as part ownership of the Columbus brewery and U.S. distribution of BrewDog beer. Other shareholder perks include a 5-percent discount at any BrewDog bar and an invite to the company's "annual general mayhem," a daylong mashup of beer, business talks and bands.
The first 500 investors from each city can also rack up $10 in BrewDog "beer bucks" and access to exclusive previews of new offers at their local BrewPub, while the first 100 will get their names permanently inscribed on their bar's "Wall of Punks."
Still got questions? Watch the video below.
This article appears in Feb 9-16, 2017.