Weaver’s plans to buy would make the company a unicorn as one of a few Black-led, Black-owned companies that have not been sold to a white-owned company.
“Every investor that comes in knows that the company has a very active secondary market,” Weaver added. Among the individual investors include Steve Mosko, CEO of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, and Jesse Burwell, CFO of Liberty Strategic Capital.
The company’s funding was secured in an unconventional way. The Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey founder told Fortune she’s “never sent a pitch deck.”
“It’s always been an investor in my company sharing with people in their network that, ‘Yeah, it’s risky as hell, but I’m willing to take that risk.’ Then they convince their peers who express interest in investing.”
That won’t stop her from keeping the company from attaining unicorn status.
“I have first right of refusal on every investment in my company. And the only plan I have is to buy [all investors] out,” Weaver added, according to Fortune. Maybe it’s because the company’s origins trace back to Nathan “Nearest” Green, a formerly enslaved man who taught Jack Daniel the art of distilling whiskey.
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Source: Black Enterprise
