How Siren Craft Brew crowdfunded two breweries and became Crowdfunder’s best-backed brewery

Written: 15 October 2026

Siren Craft Brew has raised £411,617 on Crowdfunder across two campaigns, from 2,193 people. It is more than any other brewery in Crowdfunder’s history, and Siren is the only brewery with two campaigns in the all-time top seven.

The money is only half the story. Here is how a brewery that started on a Berkshire industrial estate got a crowd to fund two bars, and why people kept coming back.

How did Siren Craft Brew start?

Siren was founded thirteen years ago on a small industrial estate in Berkshire. Today it employs more than 80 people and brewed close to 4 million pints in 2026.

The awards came quickly. Siren was named RateBeer’s best new brewery in its first year, and its flagship stout, Broken Dream, went on to win CAMRA’s Supreme Champion Beer of Britain. Its beers now sit on the shelves of Waitrose and M&S.

Crowdfunding has been part of the plan for a long time. In 2018 about 1,500 people invested in Siren. That crowd was the starting point for everything that followed.

Why did Siren want a bar in Reading?

By 2024, Siren’s tap room was in Finchampstead, hard to reach and short on space. The team wanted a flagship bar in its hometown, in a town centre where independent venues are often squeezed out by chains.

The space they found was a 3,800 sq ft unit in the Station Hill development, close to Reading station. The plan was 30 lines of fresh beer, a high-spec kitchen serving street food-inspired dishes, and wine, cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks, so it would work for people who do not drink beer at all.

In spring 2024, Siren came to Crowdfunder to fund Siren RG1, a permanent taproom in Reading, with a target of £250,000.

It was a nail-biter. After 28 days the campaign sat at 88% of target. Then a final-day surge of £52,212, nearly a fifth of everything raised, carried it to £271,732 and 109% from 1,777 people. It remains the highest-raising brewery project Crowdfunder has ever hosted.

What happened in Cheltenham?

Two years later, BrewDog entered administration. According to the campaign page, 38 venues closed, and 484 people lost their jobs. When Siren posted a message of support, readers began suggesting a site in Cheltenham’s Brewery Quarter, where the town’s first commercial brewery stood for over 230 years.

The team visited and liked what they saw. Siren Craft Brew Cheltenham launched on 26 August 2026 with a £100,000 target, and the campaign honoured the affected BrewDog staff and investors along the way.

This time there was no last-day drama. Cheltenham built momentum early, stayed ahead of Reading’s pace for most of the campaign and closed four weeks later on £139,885. That is 140% funded, from 837 backers.

The money went into 30+ lines of fresh beer, three cask handpulls, wines, cocktails, non-alcoholic options, a food menu reshaped with culinary experts and a redesigned space with booths and a private-booking room.

Who came back for the second campaign?

The people who backed Siren the first time.

421 people backed both breweries. That is half of everyone who backed Cheltenham and close to one in four of Reading’s original backers. Together they put in £169,818, or 41% of the £411,617 raised across both campaigns.

The reach was wide. Reading backers came from as far as the Scottish Highlands, 811 km away. Cheltenham backers came from Aberdeenshire, 618 km away. Even so, Cheltenham’s biggest group of backers did not live in Cheltenham. They came from Siren’s Berkshire heartland: 126 people from Wokingham and 54 from Reading pledged £34,733 between them. Cheltenham itself had 54 backers and £6,298. 

Siren’s fans followed the brand 48 miles to a new postcode. Your crowd will follow you and grow!

What did backers actually get?

Rewards did the heavy lifting. 99% of Reading’s pledges carried a reward, and 82% of Cheltenham’s did. The median pledge was £100 in both campaigns. Reading’s average was £150.71, with a top pledge of £2,000. Cheltenham’s average was £164.38, lifted by a single £10,000 pledge, the largest either campaign received.

Every reward started in the same place: 150% of your pledge back as credit to spend at Siren’s bar, online shop or existing taprooms. Pledges started at £50. On top of that, the tiers got more personal:

• Name on the wall: your name on the supporters’ wall in the new bar.
• Early Adopter: early access to the booking system.
• Branded Up: an exclusive t-shirt in your size.
• Launch Party: an invitation to the launch party. In Cheltenham, backers at the £1,000 tier also got in earlier, on the Friday evening before the public opening.
• The Snug: a three-course private food and beer pairing for up to 16 people.
• That’s My Beer: ten cases of your own personalised beer.
• Head Brewer: the big one, designing and brewing a beer with the Siren team.

None of these are things you can buy anywhere else. A name on a wall, a beer with your name on it and a private dinner in the brewery’s own room are not on a shelf. That is what makes them worth backing.

Why does the 150% credit work so well?

Think about it from both sides of the bar.

For the backer, the maths is simple. Pledge £100, and you have £150 to spend on beer you were going to buy anyway. It feels like a discount, not a donation, which is why most backers were backing to drink, not just to give.

For Siren, the credit is a pre-sale. Siren raised £271,732 in Reading and £139,885 in Cheltenham before opening either door, with no loan to repay and no shares to give away. The credit simply turns into future sales: Siren’s own Cheltenham page says the Reading campaign created over £400,000 in boosted bar tab, and Cheltenham’s pledges work out at roughly £209,800 more. It is delivered after opening, valid for 18 months, and spent in Siren’s own bars and shop, so it pulls people through the door on repeat visits. Backers who come in with credit tend to bring friends, which brings in new customers as well.

It also keeps the whole estate busy. The Cheltenham credit can be spent at Siren RG1, Siren Tap Yard, the George & Dragon in Swallowfield and the online shop. One campaign feeds every venue.

What does Siren’s business plan tell other project owners?

Both their campaigns show a business with a track record, a clear plan for the space and a crowd that has already put its money behind it.

Build the audience before you ask. Siren had thirteen years of customers, awards and 1,500 early investors before it launched its first rewards campaign.

Sell something you already make. Credit for beer from a brewery is a reward that costs Siren what it costs to pour, and is worth the full price to the backer.

Know what the money is for. Reading was a flagship bar with a kitchen and a beer garden planned for year two. Cheltenham was 30+ taps, handpulls and a redesigned room. Backers could picture exactly where their pledge was going.

Give people a reason to come back. 421 people backed twice, and they gave 41% of the money. Look after your backers, and they will back you again.

Plan your last day. Reading sat at 88% with a day to go and finished at 109%. Cheltenham did the opposite and built early. Both ended well, but only because the team had a plan for the final push.

How does Siren compare with every other brewery on Crowdfunder?

Reading’s £271,732 is the highest-raising brewery crowdfund Crowdfunder has hosted. Cheltenham’s £139,885 puts it seventh on the all-time list.

Ready to fund your own venue?

Whether it is a taproom, a pub or a community space, the model Siren used works for projects of all sizes.