Pernod Ricard’s venture capital fund, Convivialité Ventures, has taken a minority share in ecoSPIRITS, a circular economy technology startup focusing on low carbon, low waste distribution systems for the premium wine and spirits industry.
The venture capital fund took a minority stake as part of a $10 million Series A funding round, which included participation from Closed Loop Partners, Proterra Asia, Pavilion Capital, and existing investor Wavemaker Partners.
In March 2022, Pernod Ricard began collaborating with ecoSPIRITS to distribute select premium brands including Absolut vodka, Beefeater gin, and Havana Club rum, and delivered to hospitality venues on a fully reusable 4.5-liter glass container in Hong Kong and Singapore using ecoSPIRITS’ closed-loop system. The system drastically reduces waste and carbon emissions by eliminating the need for glass bottles and secondary packaging.
The new funding will support ecoSPIRITS’ R&D program, help scale up hardware, software, and IoT, and facilitate expansion into global markets, including the United States, and grow its regional customer and engineering teams in Miami, London, Singapore and Shanghai.
The investment comes as Pernod Ricard is in the process of expanding its partnership with ecoSPIRITS to markets outside of Asia.
Stéphane Longuet, co-Founder and Managing Director of Convivialité Ventures, said, “We are very pleased to participate in this investment which will help develop a company offering such an innovative solution to our industry, by drastically reducing waste and carbon emissions. ecoSPIRITS’ approach is perfectly in line with our Group’s objectives to reduce its carbon emissions and we are looking forward to using it on a large scale around the world.”
Sui Ling Cheah, ecoSPIRITS Executive Board Chairman,said, “We are thrilled with the successful close of our Series A round, which not only validates ecoSPIRITS’ impressive progress in building a comprehensive technology platform, but also marks a significant milestone in our journey to global scale. We are equally honoured to welcome leading investors to our journey such as Closed Loop Partners, Proterra Asia, Pavilion Capital and Convivialité Ventures. The future gets brighter when more resources are invested in circular economy innovation.”