- Ekos, a leader in business management software for independent craft beverage companies, announced recently that it raised $8 million in funding
Ekos — a leader in business management software for independent craft beverage companies — announced recently that it raised $8 million in Series A funding. This round of funding is the first outside investment into Ekos — which has been self-funded until now. And it represents one of the largest Series A investments in recent history around the Charlotte area.
This round of funding was led by Atlanta-based venture capital firm Noro-Moseley Partners. Noro-Moseley Partners’ general partner Alan Taetle and Principal John Ale are joining the Ekos board of directors in conjunction with the round.
“We’re truly excited about our Series A, because it means that Ekos will continue to evolve and become a company that will help all artisanal makers,” said Ekos CEO Josh McKinney. “However, our first love is the craft beer market, and we remain steadfastly committed to those customers and continuing to help them be efficient and profitable.”
Ekos partners with more than 1,700 craft producers in 40 countries around the world, including beer, cider, wine, coffee, and food companies. And Ekos manages the day-to-day operations in inventory, production, sales, and accounting for those companies.
Currently, Ekos serves more than 15% of the craft breweries in the U.S. such as Austin Beerworks, Breakside Brewery, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, and Wormtown Brewery.
Ekos provides features that are tailored based on the business model and functional role. And it is designed for boosting the performance of every person in a craft food and beverage organization. Plus the Ekos solution generates relevant accounting and tax information that also helps ensure legal and regulatory compliance — which is a tedious process for alcoholic beverage companies.
With this round of funding, Ekos plans to enhance its product features and build integrations with best-in-class solutions for the craft food and beverage industry. And the Ekos team is also planning to hire at least 40 new team members by the end of 2020.
“While Ekos is already positioned as the leading technology platform for craft beverage companies, we share a much bigger vision with the company in terms of expanding more broadly into food and beverage,” added Taetle. “We look forward to partnering with the entire Ekos team to deliver innovation to customers that will help grow their businesses.”
