B9 Beverages, which owns Indian craft beer brand Bira 91, has raised $10 million from Japan’s largest bank MUFG Bank, months after it secured $70 million in a Series-D funding round, which was led by Japanese beer company Kirin Holdings Co.
The company will use the funds to continue to ramp up its production, bolster supply chain and enhance innovation capabilities.
“When I look at this particular investment, I think the idea for us was to really get the most important and credible financial institution based out of Japan,” Ankur Jain, founder and CEO of B9 Beverages told Mint in an interview on Thursday.
“One of the things that we’re trying to build is a network of financial institutions across the world who can help us as we institutionalize our company and get to our next corporate milestone—of potentially going public,” Jain added.
The focus for the alcoholic beverages company, which drove the popularity of craft beer in the country, is to scale up the business over the next 12 to 24 months and ensure the brewer is at a scale where an IPO “becomes meaningful” Jain said.
However, timelines for an IPO are not assessed as of now, he added.
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