Spencer Matthews’ Clean Liquor Company gets $2m backing

Spencer Matthews‘ low-alcohol brand The Clean Liquor Company has been backed for $2 million by a American firm.

The former ‘Made in Chelsea’ star was inspired to launch his new business specialising in an ultra low alcohol gin called CleanGin, which is 1.2 per cent proof, after going sober in 2018, so he could be a better husband to his wife Vogue Williams and dad to their now 17-month-old son Theodore.

And the 31-year-old reality star’s company has now received funding from Californian-based investment firm Lightspeed Venture Partners and beat off competition from 50 other brands to ”become the global leader in the low- and no-alcohol category”.

The father-of-one commented: ”The Clean Liquor Company was born out of a passion to make no and low alcohol products positive.

”Rather than non-alcoholic, non-flavour, non-fun, we wanted to create something that answered the demand for quality and flavour but without the negative effects of alcohol.”

Nicole Quinn, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, added: ”I look for businesses that are doing things differently, but that are not just disruptive but rather represent a generational behavioural shift. We want to build a business for the long run. And if that business is a celebrity’s business, the most important thing is true authenticity.”

CleanGin – which is sold at Sainsbury’s in the UK – has already ”sold out twice”.

The aim is to expand to countries including India, Singapore, Australia and America.

Spencer previously said he was putting all his energy into making the company a success because the business has to ”smash it”.

He said: ”This company has to smash it and has to be the best. Otherwise I would have failed miserably.

”I’d made the decision to not drink or to at least drastically change my relationship with alcohol. I started to think, ‘I wonder if alcohol-free gin is possible?’ And I started down that road about a year ago.”

Article source: http://www.contactmusic.com/spencer-matthews/news/spencer-matthews-clean-liquor-company-gets-2m-backing_6303203