Rap entrepreneur Drake taking his whisky company public to raise $30m

Drake, the sharp rap mogul who was last year declared fifth wealthiest hip hop artist by Forbes magazine with a fortune of US$90 million, is expanding his entrepreneurial skills.

He is planning to take his Virginia Black whisky brand public at the end of March to raise $30 million.

The Canadian superstar co-founded Virginia Black in 2016 with Brent Hocking, the DeLeón Tequila founder.

Their approach is to go for a Registration A, by going to fans to raise the money. It offers more flexibility than a traditional initial public offering.

Investors can "redefine whiskey" by buying stocks to raise money to aid in the domestic and international expansion of the whiskey brand.

"Virginia Black is the perfect combination of exceptionally good juice in exquisite packaging at an accessible price," Hocking said.

"From inception, we wanted everyone to enjoy Virginia Black, and are pleased to extend the opportunity to millions of Americans and other investors around the world to become part of the Virginia Black family.”

The brand is is available in 45 US states and in Burundi, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, and Zanzibar, as well as the UK and Canada.

It is not known if there are plans to launch Virginia Black in Australia.

Virginia Black does not divulge revenue or profit details. But in the past two years it has sold 60,000 cases of the whisky, which retails at $40 for a 750ml bottle.

Drake last year appeared on ads in North America with his father Dennis Graham for the brand as “The Realest Dude Ever” — a parody of Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man in the World.”

Earlier this week, Drake and his business partner OVO Chubbs hosted a pre-opening celebration for their new restaurant Pick 6ix in Toronto ahead of an official launch

The party was for the birthday of NBA star Dwyane Wade of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and attracted a large number of music and sports celebrities.

But no official opening date has been firmed for the eaterie.

Drake already has ownership of another restaurant, Fring’s, which he set up in 2015 with celebrity chef Susur Lee.

Last year he opened a flagship store for his brand OVO (October’s Very Own) at a major shopping mall in the city, selling apparel as sweaters, shoes and hats.

He is also an investor in a line of premium matcha drinks from the brand MatchaBar for Whole Foods.

Drake’s More Life playlist of new music generated over 1 billion streams last year.

Other celebrities have also made money out of their tequila brands.

Justin Timberlake founded his Sauza 901 Tequila brand back in 2009 in partnership with Sauza Liquors. 901 is the singer’s hometown area code in Memphis, Tennessee.

He effectively used his massive following – 30 million on both Facebook and Twitter, 3 million on Instagram, and 900 million VEVO video views – to promote the brand.

But it’s been acclaimed for its quality: in 2012, he and his co-founder Kevin Ruder won a gold medal from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

George Clooney also made a killing from his Casamigos Tequila brand. He set it up in 2013 and sold it a few years later to Diageo for $1 billion.