Medusa to Raise ₹200 Crore and Enter Spirits with Third Eye Distillery
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Medusa Beverages Pvt. Ltd plans to raise ₹200 crore over the next two fiscal years to scale operations and enter India’s spirits sector through a tie-up with Goa-based Third Eye Distillery.
Under the agreement, founder and chief executive Avneet Singh is targeting gross revenue of ₹210 crore in FY27, up from ₹165 crore in FY26, as the brewer adds higher-margin spirits to offset seasonal dips in beer sales.
The partnership gives Medusa exclusive rights to bottle, distribute and sell Third Eye brands across 15 states in North India and Jharkhand, targeting ₹20 crore in gross revenue in its first year. Medusa manufactures the lines through its network and sells them into bars, restaurants and hotels. The initial rollout includes Short Story gin and vodka, together with Stranger & Sons gin, followed by Peru Road gin and planned whisky lines.
Margin Shift and Off-Peak Hedging
Gross margins in India’s beer sector hover around 30 to 35 per cent, whereas premium spirits reach roughly 65 per cent, founder and chief executive Avneet Singh said. The arrangement lets Medusa add high-margin spirits lines without spending capital to build an operating distillery from scratch.
Seasonal swings dictate the logic. Beer consumption in northern India drops sharply during the winter months, idling distribution assets and eroding cash flow. Packing a portfolio with dark spirits and gin smooths seasonal revenue while running the same sales pipeline into regional on-premise accounts.
“The economics of the two categories are also different. Beer generates gross margins of around 30-35%, while premium spirits can generate margins of about 65%,” Singh said.
The operational pivot places Medusa directly against established alcoholic beverage giants including United Breweries, Carlsberg and Anheuser-Busch InBev, alongside craft peers such as Simba and Kati Patang. While multinational brewers possess balance sheets capable of absorbing margin squeezes, smaller challengers face rising operational hurdles when state excise policies restrict price adjustments.
“Beer generates gross margins of around 30-35%, while premium spirits can generate margins of about 65%,” Singh said.”
By stepping into spirits, Medusa shifts execution risk onto retail trade compliance across India’s fragmented state alcohol boards. Securing shelf space and bar listings for craft spirits demands working capital upfront, particularly in price-controlled markets where distribution costs can outrun volume gains.
Revenue Targets and Factory Footprint
Medusa targets 210 crore rupees in gross revenue for FY27, up from 165 crore rupees reported in FY26. It sold 1.35 million cases of beer in FY26, though packaging cost increases and shortages of aluminium cans held performance below earlier corporate goals.
Financial filings show profitability remains elusive for both businesses. Medusa reported a net loss of 4.2 crore rupees in FY25, widening from 2.8 crore rupees in FY24, according to platform Tofler. Third Eye Distilleries generated 17.9 crore rupees in FY25 sales, paring its annual net loss to 4.8 crore rupees from 24.1 crore rupees a year earlier.
Contract facilities still handle all of Medusa’s beer manufacturing today. The company avoids sinking capital into owned brick-and-mortar breweries until regional sales volumes reach utilization thresholds that support fixed asset overhead.
Capital Structure and Product Rollouts
The planned 200 crore rupee fundraising round will close in two tranches, taking 50 crore rupees in FY27 through compulsorily convertible debentures and 150 crore rupees in FY28. The program follows a 56 crore rupee Series A round secured in January 2025 from private investors, including Ohm Stock Broker promoter Amal N. Parikh and Alchemy Capital Management co-founder Ashwin Kedia.
Proceeds will fund commercial distribution, manufacturing infrastructure and inventory across its ten existing state markets, led by Delhi, Haryana and Uttarakhand. Affordable lagers like Medusa Premium Strong Beer generate 82 per cent of sales, with premium variants including its Air lager providing the remaining 18 per cent.
Medusa will introduce its own branded whisky within the next 45 to 60 days, priced between 850 and 1,000 rupees a bottle.