KT Winery sells wine branded “Mom Juice.” (Courtesy KT Winery)
A Denver wine company that sells bottles labeled “Mom Juice” is raising capital to expand its product line.
Kristin Taylor and Macie Mincey founded KT Winery in 2020 because they were tired of traditional wine culture. The duo decided they wanted a fun wine brand for women, by women.
Kristin Taylor, left, and Macie Mincey
So they branded their wines Mom Juice, a reference to their “badass” mothers.
“That’s the woman we’re surrounded by and that’s the woman we want to be,” Taylor said. “It’s not about moms being drunk. It’s giving women the space to have community and a wine they can trust.”
Mom Juice comes in four varieties. The cabernet sauvignon, red blend, sauvignon blanc and rose all retail for roughly $20 a bottle.
Taylor said the winery produced 900 cases of wine last year and will do 9,000 this year. She said 2022 revenue was $96,000 and the company is on track to more than quadruple that this year.
She said the business plans to launch a low-alcohol wine in February and a single-serve product in the spring. To do so, it’s looking to raise $2 million — $800,00o of which is already accounted for.
Taylor said Mom Juice raised $119,400 on Wefunder, a website for entry-level investors. It also received a $20,000 investment this month from the singer Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition Fund. The bulk of the cash, about $700,000, was brought in from angel investors
It’s the company’s first capital raise. Taylor said she hopes to raise the rest of the cash through angel investors and venture capitalists, but said it hasn’t been easy, especially as a minority-owned business that caters to women.
“It’s completely fine to have a product that may not be your cup of tea,” she said. “However, there is a big market for it. Mothers do 85 percent of household spending in the world. It’s not a niche market. This is the market.”
Taylor, a 30-year-old Virginia native, moved to Denver in 2019. Before KT Winery, she was working in the corporate world as an account manager. She met Mincey on a “blind business lunch date.”
KT Winery sources its grapes and makes its wine in Napa Valley, although Taylor said she hopes to make a wine from Colorado grapes soon. The wine is made by Brian Kosi, who previously made wine for Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates and Kenwood Vineyards.
Taylor said Mom Juice is now in 500 stores across three states, compared to just 10 stores in Colorado last year.
“I would love to become the household brand that women reach for because they know it’s consistent, they know it’s good,” she said.
Correction: This story has been updated to clarify the amount raised through Wefunder versus angel investors.
KT Winery sells wine branded “Mom Juice.” (Courtesy KT Winery)
A Denver wine company that sells bottles labeled “Mom Juice” is raising capital to expand its product line.
Kristin Taylor and Macie Mincey founded KT Winery in 2020 because they were tired of traditional wine culture. The duo decided they wanted a fun wine brand for women, by women.
Kristin Taylor, left, and Macie Mincey
So they branded their wines Mom Juice, a reference to their “badass” mothers.
“That’s the woman we’re surrounded by and that’s the woman we want to be,” Taylor said. “It’s not about moms being drunk. It’s giving women the space to have community and a wine they can trust.”
Mom Juice comes in four varieties. The cabernet sauvignon, red blend, sauvignon blanc and rose all retail for roughly $20 a bottle.
Taylor said the winery produced 900 cases of wine last year and will do 9,000 this year. She said 2022 revenue was $96,000 and the company is on track to more than quadruple that this year.
She said the business plans to launch a low-alcohol wine in February and a single-serve product in the spring. To do so, it’s looking to raise $2 million — $800,00o of which is already accounted for.
Taylor said Mom Juice raised $119,400 on Wefunder, a website for entry-level investors. It also received a $20,000 investment this month from the singer Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition Fund. The bulk of the cash, about $700,000, was brought in from angel investors
It’s the company’s first capital raise. Taylor said she hopes to raise the rest of the cash through angel investors and venture capitalists, but said it hasn’t been easy, especially as a minority-owned business that caters to women.
“It’s completely fine to have a product that may not be your cup of tea,” she said. “However, there is a big market for it. Mothers do 85 percent of household spending in the world. It’s not a niche market. This is the market.”
Taylor, a 30-year-old Virginia native, moved to Denver in 2019. Before KT Winery, she was working in the corporate world as an account manager. She met Mincey on a “blind business lunch date.”
KT Winery sources its grapes and makes its wine in Napa Valley, although Taylor said she hopes to make a wine from Colorado grapes soon. The wine is made by Brian Kosi, who previously made wine for Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates and Kenwood Vineyards.
Taylor said Mom Juice is now in 500 stores across three states, compared to just 10 stores in Colorado last year.
“I would love to become the household brand that women reach for because they know it’s consistent, they know it’s good,” she said.
Correction: This story has been updated to clarify the amount raised through Wefunder versus angel investors.
