Shareholders joined the Invivo directors at the winemaker’s 2016 AGM in Te Kauwhata and were treated to live music, canapés, dinner and a winery tour.
Invivo hosted the bash with its shareholders to celebrate its first year having been New Zealand’s first company to equity crowd fund the maximum $2 million in 2015. The company’s innovative approach to its AGM proved a hit as more than 120 shareholders joined the event that was also live-streamed across the world.
A unique experience for the company’s valued shareholders a year on is something that Tim Lightbourne, co-founder of Invivo wanted to create and took inspiration from the world’s most successful equity crowd funded company Brewdog in the UK and hearing about how it hosted its AGM.
“Attendance at our AGM was more than some listed companies,” said Lightbourne. “We wanted to make the experience as fun as possible for our investors and we were blown away by their positive reaction.”
News about the company’s growth strategy with sales revenue predicted to grow by 65 percent and expansion in to new markets featured in this year’s predictions, something shareholders were excited about.
Plans to expand the winery capacity, hiring more staff, particularly from the local community, launching into new markets and new products and continued profitable growth were also presented.
“We’ve experienced incredible growth in the past 12 months selling around half a million bottles of Graham Norton’s Own Sauvignon Blanc,” said Lightbourne. “We’re now adding a red to the mix which we believe will only encourage further growth. We will also be increasing the capacity at our historic Te Kauwhata winery adding a new tank farm.”
A Graham Norton Shiraz and a Rosé are also in the pipeline.
On the new product front, an Invivo Gisborne Chardonnay is being released in September and the company is developing a range of spritzers under the Scarlett brand name.
