Next Century Spirits of Raleigh, North Carolina, completed its final closing of a $6 million Series C fundraising round this week. The most recent funding round was led by the Blue Hill Group, a private equity firm based in Chapel Hill. Since its inception in 2018, the Raleigh-based full-service spirits producer has raised capital from various private investors and angel networks including the Wolfpack Investor Network and Carolina Angel Network.
Next Century Spirits offers unmatched blending expertise to support private brands or labels and bulk suppliers interested in producing customized spirits concepts through its patented post-distillation finishing and filtering technology. As market changes and global effects of COVID-19 created volatility, Next Century Spirits exhibited resiliency and strengthened trust among the company’s customers and stakeholders by producing and selling hand sanitizer.
“Our team is elated to secure a funding milestone during this global pandemic; our continued growth and future growth prospects have not gone unnoticed by investors,” said Scott Bolin, CEO of Next Century Spirits. “We proactively supported communities and local distilleries and breweries by shifting the use of our equipment to produce medical-grade hand sanitizer at a multi-state level including small businesses, medical facilities and military organizations.”
The latest funding will support Next Century Spirits in its expansion of staffing and production infrastructure to meet the industry’s growing need of a “one-stop-shop” for a wide range of spirits across a breadth of price offerings.
“I am continually impressed with Next Century’s ability to provide high-quality spirits through its proprietary technology which is uniquely positioned for continued growth in the industry,” said Board member Steve Lerner of the Blue Hill Group. “The company has established a foothold in the market as startups and established brands alike look to innovation for a more diverse product portfolio to scale their business.”