Bira gets itself a breather

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Editor's note: This bit is important and timely, so we are breaking our regular publishing schedule for this note. After months of busting its gut, craft beer brand Bira has finally raised funding from an investor outside of the usual suspects. On Monday, the Sequoia Capital India-backed company announced that it had raised $30 million from Japanese beer maker Kirin Holdings. The infusion is a 50:50 split between equity and debt, and makes Kirin the owner of under 10% of Bira. With this round, Bira is reportedly valued at $300 million. To begin with, this news is definitely a relief. For both B9 Beverages-owned Bira and the overall craft beer sector, which has been worried about waning investor interest in the post-lockdown economy. A decent fundraise at the start of the year by one of the leading companies in the sector is a good sign for stakeholders. That said, for Bira, this is just a drop in the ocean. It has, for a while now, been under pressure to sell a significant stake. Last year, we wrote about how Bira was facing …