High-ABV cocktail brand Spa Girl Cocktails raises $5m in funding

US vodka cocktail company Spa Girl Cocktails has closed an oversubscribed $5 million Series A financing round, as it looks to expand its brand across the states.

Spa Girl offers a range of high-proof ready-to-drink (RTD) canned and bottled cocktails that are made with six times distilled premium vodka, natural flavours, pure cane sugar and no artificial flavours or sweeteners.

With an ABV of 16.5%, the vodka cocktails come in peach, pear and cucumber flavours; as well as a sparkling variety in pineapple and strawberry flavours.

The company plans to use the capital to expand its distribution, launch new products and flavours; as well as grow its team of employees.

“Spa Girl Cocktails has created a rare and sexy, female-focused brand, tapping into relevant consumer demand for a canned cocktail that caters to the premium female market, and most importantly, the female palate,” said new board member and investor Amy Dornbusch, general partner of Willowtree Venture Fund and director of the Marks Family Foundation.

Under the leadership of CEO Alisa Marie Beyer, Spa Girl Cocktails acquired the brand from its founder Karen Haines in October 2019 and signed-on exclusively with Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.

“Spa Girl Cocktails is going deep – hiring an all-female, full-time sales team to boost our existing retail relationships and forge new ones,” said Robin McGee, chief revenue officer of Spa Girl Cocktails.

She added: “Our plan is to take our business to the next level – growing sell-thru at our over 700 California chain locations, tripling our footprint with on-premise and independent retailers in California, Colorado, and Nevada. Spa Girl is perfectly positioned to dominate the RTD spirits category cocktail industry, with a unique offering highly differentiated from the run-of-the-mill malt liquor seltzer.”

This summer, Spa Girl is planning to release a new frozen vodka popsicles collection in three flavours: mango, strawberry and pineapple.