36Kr Exclusive | Craft beer brand "TAGSIU" secures nearly 10 million yuan in Pre-A round financing to tap into the "tipsy" social economy

Author | Xiaoxia Li

36Kr has learned that the craft beer brand "TAGSIU Brewing" (hereinafter referred to as "TAGSIU") has completed a nearly ten - million - yuan Pre - A round of financing. The investors are MinIPO, Kushu Distillery, and Jiangzhen Venture Capital. This round of financing will be mainly used for store chain expansion, retail channel development, and supply chain R & D.

Founded in 2020, TAGSIU is a craft beer brand that combines offline store space experience with retail channel layout. In May 2023, TAGSIU completed an angel round of financing of nearly ten million yuan. The brand targets urban consumers who pursue personalized and social drinking experiences, providing craft beer consumption scenarios with both quality and atmosphere.

The retail segment mainly consists of canned products and bottled beer, which are sold through various chain restaurants, e - commerce platforms, and supermarket channels.

TAGSIU

According to the founder, Qifeng Wu, in addition to being a beer company, TAGSIU extends its stores into urban public spaces and conducts brand collaborations with different business brands. Through cross - border cooperation, brand linkages, urban beer festivals, etc., it integrates traditional business forms with social scenarios in different innovative ways.

In addition, TAGSIU is also transforming its store model from large - meal pubs to small pubs by continuously adjusting the store space and food combinations. Qifeng Wu revealed that after reducing the store size, it helps improve labor efficiency and facilitates large - scale replication.

The participation of Guangdong Kushu Distillery, one of the investors in this Pre - A round, has also helped TAGSIU supplement its supply chain. It is reported that Kushu Distillery was founded by Junju Feng and is located in Yangjiang, Guangdong Province, covering an area of 18,000 square meters. Its output value reached 30,000 tons per year in 2024, and it plans to expand to 50,000 tons per year in 2025 (under construction) and be completed and put into operation by the end of the year. It is one of the largest distilleries in South China.

The chief brewer, Yuechuan Zheng, is an advanced figure in the development of Chinese beer. He went to the DOEMENS Beer Academy in Munich, Germany, in the 1980s to study and obtained a German brewing qualification certificate. After returning to China, he participated in the construction and management of major beer factories in Guangdong Province.

Qifeng Wu told 36Kr that the cooperation with Kushu Distillery enables TAGSIU to use high - quality imported raw materials and unique brewing processes, allowing consumers to taste craft beer with stronger product power at a more cost - effective price in its small pubs and retail channels. At the same time, it also enriches its supply chain capabilities and expands its channel space.

Relevant data shows that in 2023, the scale of the Chinese craft beer market reached 148.78 billion yuan, doubling compared with 2018. It is expected to exceed 180 billion yuan by 2027, with an average annual compound growth rate of over 8%.

However, behind this continuous growth trend, the industry still faces many pain points that need to be solved urgently. On the one hand, there are obvious shortcomings in the channel structure. 78% of craft beer brands rely too much on traditional B - end channels such as bars and restaurants and lack self - controllable retail scenarios, resulting in limited market expansion.

On the other hand, there are also obstacles at the consumer level. Limited by the coverage of offline channels and the generally high prices of craft beer, it is difficult to effectively reach potential consumers. As Qifeng Wu said, the high price threshold of craft beer has blocked many consumers who want to try it. Therefore, he hopes that new - generation beer companies like TAGSIU can make craft beer more accessible to the general public.

After the completion of the supply chain construction and the maturity of the small - pub store model, TAGSIU's store expansion has entered a new development stage. Previously, the brand mainly operated self - owned stores, but now it has opened up franchise cooperation, and the number of its pubs will increase year by year.

In addition to building offline consumption scenarios by opening small pubs, TAGSIU is also accelerating the expansion of its retail channels.

Junju Feng, the person - in - charge of Kushu Distillery, has personally joined the brand as one of the co - founders after investing in TAGSIU, which helps TAGSIU build a strong channel distribution ability. It is reported that Junju Feng's family business has long been deeply involved in the fast - moving consumer goods field, covering multiple categories such as beverages, alcoholic beverages, and drinking water, including many brands such as Tsingtao Beer, Budweiser Beer, Yanjing Beer, Carlsberg Beer, Asahi Beer, Nongfu Spring, RIO, JDB, and Kunlun Mountain. It has a complete offline channel network of KA, BC, and CVS.

It is understood that TAGSIU has reached in - depth cooperation with large - scale channels such as Lawson Convenience Stores and Pupu Supermarkets. Even in cities where there are no stores, consumers can conveniently purchase its craft beer products.

The affordable pricing strategy has stimulated the mass market. At the retail end, TAGSIU's products adopt a more consumer - friendly strategy, making craft beer more acceptable to the public. For example, in Lawson Convenience Stores, consumers can buy its products for more than ten yuan; in Pupu Supermarkets, the price of some products is as low as 9.9 yuan for two bottles. This makes craft beer no longer a "privilege" of a few people, attracting more potential consumers who were previously deterred by the price and greatly expanding the market audience.

TAGSIU at Lawson

At the same time, TAGSIU plans to continuously expand its national distribution network by deeply exploring existing resources such as convenience stores, traditional supermarkets, and instant e - commerce platforms. On this basis, it will further penetrate more consumption scenarios or local life by，learning from the logic of mineral water products.

The hotel scenario is also a space that TAGSIU is exploring. Currently, it has reached cooperation with many hotels such as Botree Hotel, Noah Hotel, and UrCove by Hyatt under the Hyatt Group, providing craft beer for hotel bars and in - room Mini Bars. This multi - scenario coverage model effectively fills the market gaps in other untapped areas.

(Hotel MINIBAR)

As a craft beer brand targeting the new generation of young people, TAGSIU establishes a close connection with users through various forms such as sports events, interesting art activities, and brand co - branding. The "CityForce Shenzhen Craft Beer Festival" hosted by the brand has been built as a benchmark for urban - level event IP. It also jointly held the Teang Festival with 36Kr in CityForce, building a national live - broadcast dialogue platform for entrepreneurs and capital in Shenzhen and becoming the most content - rich urban cultural festival card in Shenzhen every year.

In terms of IP linkage, it has also launched creative gameplay such as "Duckling × TAGSIU: The First Drink for the 18 - year - old Coming - of - Age Ceremony", continuously building experiential craft beer consumption scenarios.

The layout of TAGSIU's stores and retail channels has also positively fed back into the R & D of the supply chain. Relying on direct contact with consumers, the brand can obtain instant feedback and consumption data from the front - line market when conducting new - flavor R & D at the distillery. These real and effective information contribute to the R & D and iteration of new flavors.

TAGSIU's new 500ml "Daytime Belgium" product

In Qifeng Wu's view, the continuous improvement of the supply chain system has greatly enhanced the brand's production and supply capabilities. Whether it is the order demand at the retail end or the daily supply at the store end, it can achieve efficient response and delivery, providing a solid guarantee for the continuous expansion of channels and the expansion of store scale.

As a startup company, TAGSIU still faces challenges in organizational capacity building, talent team construction, and channel refinement management. However, the team is full of confidence in overcoming these difficulties. In the future, it will continue to focus on three core areas: large - scale store expansion, deepening of retail channels, and product innovation and R & D, and strive to occupy a favorable position in the rapidly growing craft beer market.