Investor Profile: Constellation Brands Ventures - Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Constellation Brands Ventures, also called CBV, is the corporate venture capital group of Constellation Brands, the Fortune 500 beer, wine and spirits company behind Corona Extra, Modelo Especial, Pacifico, Robert Mondavi and Kim Crawford. CBV takes active minority stakes in emerging beverage brands and pairs capital with operating help.

Investment thesis

The thesis is differentiation in beverage alcohol and adjacent categories. Constellation Brands says CBV looks for brands with a point of differentiation, companies that want to welcome Constellation Brands Ventures as an active minority investor, organisations looking to grow beyond their current markets, and entrepreneurs who want investment, mentorship and involvement.

Sectors and stages

Sectors are beverage alcohol and adjacent categories: beer, wine, spirits, ready-to-drink cocktails and hard seltzer. Stages are emerging and growth-stage brands that already have a product and some traction, and are ready to expand distribution.

Fund size and cheque size

Fund size: not publicly disclosed as a single closed fund. Instead, Constellation Brands announced two programme envelopes, which founders should not confuse with a fund size. Through Focus on Female Founders, CBV intended to invest $100 million in female-founded or female-led businesses in beverage alcohol and adjacent categories by 2028. Through Focus on Minority Founders, announced in 2020, it committed a further $100 million over ten years to Black and minority-owned drinks companies. Individual deal terms have not been disclosed, so no standard cheque size is stated here.

Notable portfolio

CBV made its first minority investment in August 2015 in Crafthouse Cocktails, a ready-to-drink brand co-founded by bartender Charles Joly, followed by a minority stake in Nelson's Green Brier Distillery, a Tennessee whiskey producer. The first Focus on Female Founders investments, announced in December 2018, were Austin Cocktails, founded in 2012 by sisters Jill Burns and Kelly Gasink, and Vivify Beverages, maker of Bravazzi Hard Italian Soda and Itz Spritz, a gluten-free alcohol spritzer. CBV later took a minority stake in Press Premium Alcohol Seltzer through the same programme, on undisclosed terms.

People and partners

Bill Newlands, then president and chief operating officer and incoming chief executive of Constellation Brands, was the public sponsor of both founder programmes, and Mallika Monteiro, then chief growth officer, led the launch of Focus on Female Founders. Portfolio founders work with CBV staff and Constellation Brands experts, plus a peer community under the founder programmes.

Programmes and support

The two named programmes are Focus on Female Founders and Focus on Minority Founders. Focus on Female Founders supports emerging brands in or adjacent to beverage alcohol that are founded or led by women, with capital plus mentorship, brand-building, supply chain, governance and finance expertise, distributor relationships and a peer community. Focus on Minority Founders follows the same format, adding sales, marketing, operations and finance training. No credits programme is published.

How to apply for funding

Constellation Brands described an application and evaluation process for Focus on Female Founders in 2018, but no open call with a deadline was verified in the sources read, so founders should not assume a live window. The practical route is a direct approach to Constellation Brands Ventures, framed against its stated criteria: a differentiated brand, willingness to welcome CBV as an active minority investor, ambition to grow beyond current markets, and a clear ask for mentorship and distribution help.