BIRA CASE STUDY
BIRA CASE STUDY, FUNDING, BUSINESS MODEL, REVENUE MODEL, INVESTORS, COMPETITOR

Founder and CEO: Ankur Jain

BIRA BUSINESS MODEL
Bira 91 is a manufacturer and distributor of white ale, blonde and large craft beers for restaurants and bars.

STORY BEHIND THE IDEA BIRA 91
Ankur Jain completed his bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and began his entrepreneurial journey through a healthcare information startup in 2002, and after running it for five years, he came to India. Here, he joined Reliance Fresh as a Retail Director.
A love for beer had him starting Cerana Beverages in 2009, Which imported beers from around the world. some of the beers he imported included Erdinger, Schneider Weisse, Chimay, Duvel from Belgium, and Brooklyn Larger from New York.
He would get all of these beers to India because He wanted to figure out what kind of beer actually works with the Indian consumer. He started with importing 25-3 brands, which he would distribute in hotels and restaurants.
They figured that there were certain kinds of beers that really worked with Indian Consumers. So, He felt that there was a need to create high quality and great tasting beer which resonated with the youth.
Bira is focused on mild beers as its team figured urban consumers prefer lighter beers. The company started with two types of beer- a European style pilsner, which is similar to a large, and a on that is based on Belgium Beers, which has citrus and coriander notes. It now has five variants of Bira in the market.

BIRA 91 FUNDING
Total Funding: $103.5M
Jan 2016 raised $6M in Series A led by Sequoia.
Aug 2017 raised $8M in Equity led by Sequoia.
Dec 2017 raised $3.9M in Debt led by Anicut.
May 2018 raised $50M in Series B led by Sofina and Sequoia.
May 2019 raised $4.3M in Series B led by Sixth sense.
Feb 2020 raised $1.3M in Debt led by Anicut.
Apr 2020 raised $30M in Pre-Series C led by Sequoia Capital, Sofina, and Neoplux Co, Ltd.
INVESTORS
Sequoia, Anicut, Sofina, Sixth sense, and Neoplux.
COMPETITORS
UB, Carlsberg, AB InBev, Gateway Brewing, coolberg, The White Owl, Arbor Brewing, BB, and Marin Brewing.
Estimated Annual Revenue
$67.8M

DISCOVER
FOUNDED: 2008
CEO: Ankur Jain
HEADQUARTERS: New Delhi, India
ESTIMATED ANNUAL REVENUE: $67.8M
Industry Sector: Brewers
ESTIMATED EMPLOYEES: 525+
TWITTER FOLLOWERS: 2,526+
FB FOLLOWERS: 120,741+
Thanks for reading
BIRA CASE STUDY, FUNDING, BUSINESS MODEL, REVENUE MODEL, INVESTORS, COMPETITOR