Old Young's: the Swan Valley distillery that turned gin lovers into shareholders twice

If you want to understand why fiercely loved consumer brands do so well on Birchal, look no further than Old Young's. The Swan Valley distillery has run the crowdfunding playbook about as well as it can be run — twice — and along the way it has shown founders exactly how powerful a passionate fan base becomes when you invite it to own a piece of the business.

A craft success story before the raise

Founded by James Young in 2016, Old Young's built its reputation the hard way: by making award-winning spirits and growing a devoted following. By the time of its first crowdfunding campaign, the distillery had posted years of strong growth and built a brand with genuine cultural cachet in Western Australian craft spirits. That foundation — real product, real customers, real love — is what every great raise is built on.

A record-breaking first campaign

In March 2023, Old Young's ran a campaign that entered the record books. It hit its maximum target of $2.7 million in well under 24 hours, with 855 investors coming on board — the largest alcohol equity crowdfunding raise Australia had ever seen, at a company valuation around $32.5 million. The timing was almost cinematic: midway through the campaign's expression-of-interest phase, Old Young's won two of the world's most coveted gin awards in London, and online sales spiked dramatically as the news broke. Expressions of interest nearly doubled, reaching well over 3,000 — extraordinary momentum that turned an already strong campaign into a runaway one.

It was, in the platform's own description at the time, a textbook campaign — integrating investor communications, PR, social media, an engaging investor video and webinars to keep prospective shareholders engaged from start to finish. The result wasn't luck; it was preparation meeting opportunity.

The Cathedral of Gin

What does a distillery do for an encore? It dreams bigger. Old Young's set its sights on a roughly $30 million architectural landmark in the Swan Valley it calls the "Cathedral of Gin" — a sustainable distillery with accommodation, immersive gin experiences, event and dining spaces, designed as a tourism destination to rival the best cellar-door attractions in the country. It's the kind of audacious, tangible vision that gives investors something concrete to believe in.

Round two, in a tougher market

In late 2024, Old Young's returned to Birchal for a second campaign — this time in a markedly harder environment for the spirits industry and for fundraising generally. The founder was candid about the headwinds: a challenging market, excise pressures on distillers, and the hard operational lessons every growing business learns. And yet the community came through again. The second campaign raised more than $1.4 million from over 370 investors, at a pre-money valuation around $37.5 million, with more than a million dollars committed in the opening days before the offer even opened to the wider public.

Raising seven figures a second time, in a tough market, after being honest with investors about the challenges — that's the signature of a company with deep trust in its community. James Young has spoken about how many investors had followed the brand right back to its early days. That continuity is the whole point.

The lessons for founders

Old Young's offers a near-perfect illustration of several truths about raising from the crowd. The first is that loyal fans make the best shareholders. Craft producers perform strongly precisely because their customers are emotionally invested and want their favourite brand to thrive — and ownership turns that affection into advocacy. As the founder has noted, a raise doesn't just bring in capital; it creates hundreds of new brand ambassadors.

The second is that preparation wins. The record-breaking first campaign rested on a strong EOI phase, sharp storytelling and integrated marketing — not on hope. The third is the power of the long game. By looking after its first crowd of owners and giving them an inspiring vision to back, Old Young's made its second campaign possible even when conditions were against it.

And the fourth, quieter lesson: honesty travels. The founder didn't pretend the second raise was as effortless as the first. He acknowledged the difficulty, explained the strategic changes the business had made, and asked his community to back the plan anyway. They did. Candour, it turns out, is a competitive advantage.

For any consumer brand wondering whether its customers would become shareholders, Old Young's answer is unambiguous: if you've earned their love, invite them in — and then look after them well enough that they'll come back when you dream up your next big idea.

The community dividend

Beyond the headline figures, Old Young's offers one of the clearest illustrations of the "community dividend" that comes with a crowd raise. When the founder reflected on the first campaign, the point he kept returning to wasn't the capital — it was the hundreds of new brand ambassadors the raise created. A distillery that adds 855 owner-advocates in a day has, in effect, recruited a passionate, unpaid sales-and-marketing team overnight. Those shareholders pour the brand's gin at their own gatherings, recommend it to friends, and turn up to support new releases and experiences.

That dynamic is amplified by the kind of company Old Young's is. With a membership-style gin club, a growing experiential offering, and now the audacious Cathedral of Gin destination on the horizon, the business is built for exactly the sort of deep customer relationship that ownership supercharges. Investors aren't just buying shares; they're buying a stake in a brand they can visit, drink, and feel part of. The lavish investor rewards the distillery has offered — including once-in-a-lifetime gin masterclass experiences — only deepen that bond, blurring the line between customer, fan and shareholder in a way few categories can match. It's the community flywheel in its most spirited form.

You can find the Old Young's profile and campaign history on Birchal.

This article is general information only and is not financial advice or an offer of securities. Past campaign performance is not indicative of future results. Investing in early-stage companies involves significant risk, including the loss of your investment. Always read the relevant CSF offer document and the general CSF risk warning before investing.