Athletic Brewing raises $50 million as non-alcoholic wave sweeps brewing

“We are passionate about transforming the way modern adults drink and converting critics into believers. We’re at the start of a long-term trend, and we couldn’t be more excited to have General Atlantic by our side as Athletic begins its next phase of growth,” the company wrote in a press release.

Athletic Brewing launched its non-alcoholic craft brewing facilities in 2018 and has since grown to become the 10th largest U.S. craft brewery and 20th largest overall U.S. brewing company, despite only offering non-alcoholic options, according to rankings by the Brewers Association. 

Athletic holds over 19% market share within non-alcoholic beer and is driving 32% of total non-alcoholic beer category growth, according to NielsenIQ data.

“Revenue has more than doubled since our Series D [funding round] about 18 months ago,” Shufelt said on CNBC.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday the company’s valuation has also doubled with the latest fundraise and now stands at $800 million.

The company currently has two brewing facilities in the U.S., one in Milford, Connecticut, and the second in San Diego. Athletic recently announced the purchase of a third U.S. brewing facility, also located in San Diego. Once operational, Athletic expects the facility to help double its U.S. brewing capacity.

“We sold well over 3 million cases, over a 100 million cans, did over $90 million in revenue last year as a company, and we are growing well above that this year,” Shufelt said.

The company’s success is largely attributed to growing health and wellness trends that are driving consumer interest in non-alcoholic beverages.

More than 40% of Americans say they are actively trying to drink less alcohol in 2024, according to recent data by NCSolutions. That percentage jumps to 49% when surveying millennials and 61% for members of Generation Z, according to the data.

Established beer companies like Heineken, Constellation Brands-owned Corona, Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser and even Diageo’s Guinness have also hopped on the trend, introducing non-alcoholic beer offerings of their own.

“We want to give people beer they can drink seven nights a week and feel good about,” Shufelt said. “We’ve invested over $100 million in our manufacturing which has really differentiated quality that this segment has never seen before.”