How Venture First Partnered
Revenue Growth
Penelope Bourbon is a national marketer, producer, and distributor of its premium bourbon brand. Venture First served as CFO of Penelope Bourbon, doubling their revenue in two years and securing over $14.0M of debt capital to finance barrel purchases.
CFO Services
In 2018, Michael Paladini and Daniel Polise wanted to capture the essence of their lives as fathers by creating the Penelope spirits brand of bourbon, named after Michael’s daughter. Their keen sense of marketing, pricing, and securing key supplier relationships led to their company growing faster than planned. As a result, Penelope reached out to Whiskey Capital and Venture First to assist in securing inventory capital from a large regional bank. Through the diligence process, Whiskey Capital recognized a gaping hole in Penelope’s financial reporting and business strategy. Penelope looked to Venture First to provide strategic guidance on fundraising, accounting, systems overhaul, and, most importantly, navigating the balance between their growth focus and optimizing cash flow to support ongoing popularity.
Barrel Financing
As their financial services partner with world-class spirits knowledge, Venture First’s dedicated team of a CFO, FP&A Analyst, and Accountants provided insightful reporting, and counsel to secure not only a barrel finance program but also the eventual support of the sale of Penelope to MGP Ingredients, Inc. (MGPI).
From their first 5,000 cases to an acquisition by the world’s largest bourbon producer, Venture First provided optimal leadership for key forecasting and fundraising to assist Penelope’s vision.
