BrewDog co-founder James Watt is putting up £5million of his own cash in search of the next billion-dollar company. Using a brand-new investment model where members of the public can also back the chosen companies, Watt’s ‘The Next Unicorn’ search aims to create the next generation of Unicorns, following in the footsteps of his beer company that reached the landmark valuation in 2017.
The BrewDog boss has partnered with the world’s largest equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube to receive pitches from a range of European entrepreneurs. He’ll then whittle down entrants with the help of a carefully selected panel, including Crowdcube CEO Matt Cooper, and Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish Edge – which helped the brewing company get started 16 years ago.
Watt also previously sought early funding from Dragons’ Den, but BBC producers made a last-minute decision to reject the beer firm from entering the Den back in 2009 – denying investors what would have been the most lucrative deal in the show’s history.
