이 기사는 2021년 06월 18일 06:40 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Stonebridge Ventures, Stonebridge Capital's venture capital investing arm, has started to exit from Jeju Beer, the first local craft brewer that went public in South Korea.

Stonebridge Ventures invested in the company in 2015 when the craft beer-related industry was growing rapidly as it gained popularity in Asia and Europe.

Jeju Beer was the pioneer in the local craft beer market and Stonebridge Ventures made the bold decision to capitalize on the company’s growth potential.

Jeju Beer needed to have a production base in Asia to have an edge in the market and the craft brewer partnered with New York’s top craft brewer, Brooklyn Brewery, to obtain the recipe from the U.S. firm.

Stonebridge Ventures first invested in the company using its venture fund and made four follow-on investments after that. It put a combined 16.5 billion won ($14.6 million) in the company from 2015 to 2020, using six funds.

Jeju Beer has used the proceeds to expand brewing facilities to meet growing demands. It now has the largest capacity (20 million liters) in Asia, with its production more than quadrupling thanks to the expansion of brewery facilities in 2019.

Jeju Beer’s revenue nearly tripled from 7.2 billion won in 2019 to 21.6 billion won in 2020. It also started exporting its craft beer products to Asian countries.

Stonebridge Ventures’ investment in Jeju Beer has started to bear fruit. Before and after the Jeju Beer’s IPO, Stonebridge Venture recouped 1.5 billion won, which it invested using its venture fund in 2015, generating a more than 4.5x return.

“Some of shares are bound under the lock-up period,” said an official at Stonebridge Ventures, adding, “We plan to make additional exits while monitoring the stock price movement.” (Reporting by Yong-bi Yang)