BEERMKR StartEngine Update
Hello BEERMKRs!
We are back with StartEngine for another raise! A lot has happened since our last raise on StartEngine so let’s dig in.
Product
I am extremely happy to say our product is in better shape than ever. When we launched BEERMKR at the end of 2020, we were in the thick of the COVID crisis, dealing with strained supply lines, and working through our first in-the-wild usage of BEERMKR. Over the first 6 months of them being in customer’s hands, we updated everything from the valves to the app to make the system more reliable and easy to use.
While we are happy with BEERMKR’s reliability today, there are still improvements that we are excited to continue working on. As we approach our third major build, we have a number of hardware and firmware revisions in the works for the BEERMKR and BEERTAP that will improve upon and streamline the already great user experience. The updates include a BEERTAP regulator with an on/off knob for gas which will prevent over foaming, an angled CO2 entry for the BEERTAP to allow for easier CO2 screw-in, adding bluetooth connectivity to improve initial setup, and a host of other small changes to improve the overall quality of the device.
MKRKITs
As of this writing, we have 23 active MKRKITs available for purchase in our store with another half dozen in the works through the end of the year. Between our in-house MKRKIT recipes and custom recipes, our 2,000+ BEERMKRs in the wild have brewed over 200,000 beers!
Market
During COVID, the at-home beer brewing market home appliance market saw very strong growth numbers as people were at home due to shut-down orders. This was very good for our business as we had a totally new group of people with extra time on their hands looking for something fun to do.
While new people interested in brewing was great news for us, we did still see a number of challenges. Freight costs from China quintupled, prices of grain and USA domestic freight increased, and inflation has hit levels not seen since the 1970s. In response to these increased input costs, we were forced to increase prices across our entire product line, moving the average price for MKRKITs from $17 to $19 and our machine MSRP from $579 to $649. Not all of these changes were received well by our customers but they were necessary to maintain the company.
Going Forward
We're excited to be moving forward as a company. A major part of this is ensuring we have capital available to build more BEERMKRs, MKRKITs, and make investments in our products. As such, we're back on StartEngine to raise another round! If you believe in what we are doing, please head over to our StartEngine page for more info.