Austin's Nine Banded Whiskey has secured a $10 million series A funding round led by No Sleep Beverage, an investment group founded by spirits entrepreneur Nick Papanicolaou.
The new investment will be used to fuel Nine Banded's growth, including plans for a tasting room in Austin and product innovation. Co-founders Sean Foley, Chris Ogden and Whitney Kroenke Silverstein said the deal will also help them build more connections across Austin's spirits scene.
"The development of a tasting room will bring together our friends from the spirits, music and culinary scene, in a new brick and mortar space for the entire Nine Banded family to enjoy," they stated.
Nine Banded was founded in 2016. It makes strait bourbon whiskey, wheated bourbon whiskey and a cask strength variation.
Atop of several awards for its wheated bourbons at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Awards, the beverage startup has landed several partnerships to help make people more aware of its brand.
In 2019, it formed a partnership with the Round Rock Express Minor League Baseball team to serve its libations at the stadium’s bars. That same year, it also teamed up with the Los Angeles Rams for a season-long partnership to be the team's official American whiskey partner.
The sports deals perhaps make sense.
Foley helped the University of Texas win three NCAA swimming titles, and Ogden played on UT’s Final Four basketball squad in 2003 before moving onto coaching. He's now general manager of UT men's basketball. Kroenke Silverstein is a philanthropist, investor and part of the Walton family, which founded Walmart.
Nine Banded's recent success follows a well-trodden path for Austin-area alcoholic beverage companies. It joins companies like Tito's Vodka, Deep Eddy Vodka, Garrison Brothers Distillery and Treaty Oak that have helped make Austin a hub for spirits. And earlier this year, Matthew and Camila McConaughey launched their new tequila brand called Pantalones Tequila.
