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(Milwaukee, WI) – BrewDog is coming to the U.S in more ways than one. The much anticipated show “Brew Dogs” premiered last night on Esquire, introducing Americans to the boundary pushing founders of Scottish brewery BrewDog. That same day, CraftFund LLC announced breweries and food companies can now create basic profile pages on its site as it continues to build out its equity crowdfunding platform in anticipation of changing laws that will make BrewDog’s revolutionary “Equity for Punks” scheme legal in the U.S.

CraftFund founder David Dupee says that the company profile page is the first of several updates to the site scheduled over next few months. “Just as beer and food companies carefully hand craft their products, so too are we crafting our own platform to meet the unique needs of the industry,” says Dupee, who believes craft beer and food investments are going to attract a particular kind of investor interested in owning brands that she is passionate about. “Other platforms are about facilitating transactions; we are about facilitating ownership experiences.”
The profile page contains general product and brand information. There is no cost to create a basic public profile and creating a profile does not commit a company to ever raising funds on CraftFund.

The site went live with breweries from 9 different states and a mix of startups and established brands, including Fullsteam and MadTree. Dupee expects brewers of every size will create a profile in anticipation of Title III of the JOBS Act, which will for the first time allow private companies to sell shares to the general public. Already legal in the U.K., BrewDog pioneered a new way to raise capital by selling shares of the company to passionate fans. According to Dupee, equity crowdfunding under Title III of the JOBS Act could permit U.S. brewers to follow suit. Equity crowdfunding is not legal until the SEC finalizes Title III.

“Craft beer and food is very much about engaging consumers and creating experiences for consumers to participate in,” explains Dupee. “Ownership is the ultimate form of engagement; however there are very few ownership experiences in craft beer and food right now due to regulations.” Depending on how the SEC writes the final rule, Dupee believes Title III could provide a more reasonable path for breweries to become like Boston Beer and offer shares to passionate customers.

Dupee stressed that a profile page should not be equated with an immediate capital need or active raise. “We hope every brewery and brewery in planning creates a profile that they can then choose to activate at some point down the road,” says Dupee. “We want to become the go-to store for investments and ownership experiences in craft beer and food.”