Lyre’s Non-alcoholic Spirit Co set to crack the $1bn valuation barrier this year

Two Queensland friends who met at a part-time job while studying at university have created a global non-alcoholic drinks sensation that will hit the $1bn valuation this year.

Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirit Co co-founder Carl Hartmann.

Since pouring their first drink less than three years ago an Australian non-alcoholic beverage company is set to be valued at $1bn this year as the world wakes up from its Covid-19 hangover and embraces healthier drinking alternatives.

Serial entrepreneurs Carl Hartmann and Mark Livings have raised more than $63m to ensure the expansion of Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirit Co which currently has a presence in 63 countries and annual revenue of around $50m.

Mr Hartmann, who is based on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, expects Lyre’s to be valued at $1bn by the middle of 2022.

Lyre's non-alcoholic RTD range of drinks.

“We made our millionth bottle last year and we sell one every 30 seconds,” he said.

“We are at $500m (valuation) now and by extrapolating that growth and using current market multiples it’s inevitable.”

For Mr Hartmann, who previously co-founded successful logistics software business Temando and recruitment software company Compono, Lyre’s was a change in direction.

It all started when he worked with Mr Livings at a JB Hi-Fi store while they were both studying at the University of Queensland.

Mr Hartmann said they have had “intersecting careers for the better part of 20 years”.

“We actually came to the same conclusion separately — from Mark’s case he came from a career in the beverage industry — there is this wave of people or Millennials who were looking for healthy alternatives,” he said.

“From my perspective I’ve lived abroad for a number of years and wished there was a drink that looked like a real drink, tasted like a real drink and but ideally I had the freedom to choose whether it had alcohol or not and ideally a lot less calories.

“We thought there was a big opportunity there and certainly what we’ve seen over the last couple of years demand is off the charts.”

Lyre's non-alcoholic Absinthe.

Lyre’s, which takes its name from the lyrebird because the company set out to mimic a full range of “true-to-taste” non alcoholic spirits, was established in April 2019.

Since launching, it has won more than 200 awards in the non-alcoholic spirit category. It has more than 100 staff around the world, with its headquarters in London and production plants in Melbourne, the UK, Germany and the US.

In Australia Lyre’s products are sold in Woolworths, Coles, Dan Murphy’s, IGA and major hospital operators. Mr Livings is Lyre’s chief executive and lives in Amsterdam.

Mr Hartmann said the Covid-19 pandemic marked a shift in people’s attitudes.

“One of the things we’ve noticed through the pandemic is that people are getting through to the other side of this way more health conscious and they are more mindful of what they put into their bodies,” he said.

“And people have time to reflect and start changing their preferences. In some cases they rediscover fitness and one way to keep it there is to consider their alcohol consumption.

“The vast majority of people who do drink Lyre’s are people who drink alcohol but have a training goal and don’t want to be hungover or someone who is a designated driver.

“They like to alternate by having an alcoholic beverage and then a Lyre’s non-alcohol drink so they can extend the social experience.”

Originally published as Lyre’s Non-alcoholic Spirit Co set to crack the $1bn valuation barrier this year