HACIEN Launches Crowdfunding Campaign to Build a New Category in the Booming Tequila Market
HACIEN Tequila has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Republic Europe, accelerating its mission to lead a new global spirits category: premium, 100% agave, flavoured tequila.
Already stocked in more than 350 UK venues, including Harvey Nichols, Michelin-starred restaurants and several of the country’s top 50 bars, HACIEN has delivered 10x e-commerce growth between 2025 and 2026, alongside a run of industry accolades, including medals at the Tequila & Mezcal Masters 2026 and a 2-star Great Taste Award.
What sets HACIEN apart is its refusal to compromise. A genuine 100% agave tequila, full strength, made in Mexico, built for real flavour innovation. Here’s why that makes HACIEN one of the most exciting opportunities in UK spirits right now.
Why Tequila Should Be on Your Radar
Tequila is now UK’s fastest-growing major spirit, with the category on track to reach £1.25 billion in value by 2035, globally. Despite that momentum, one crucial ingredient has been missing: genuine innovation in flavour. HACIEN, was built to fill that gap, pioneering premium, 100% agave, flavoured tequila at a pivotal inflection point for the category.
Where gin and vodka were transformed by flavour-led innovation over the past decade, premium tequila has seen almost none, leaving the space wide open for a brand with the credibility and craft to take it.
The timing could not be better. Tequila has officially overtaken gin as the UK’s favourite warm-weather and summer spirit, with consumer data and retail trends showing that Margaritas, Spicy Margaritas, Palomas and Tequila and Sodas are increasingly replacing the classic G&T as the top choice in British pubs and bars. The Margarita, and its spicy variations, remains the world’s most popular cocktail, and is now a fixture across menus, alongside a growing appetite for tequila-led serves such as the Paloma and tequila spritz.
For investors, this points to a rare convergence of three powerful global trends at once: the rise of tequila, the ongoing premiumisation of spirits, and the continued growth of flavoured categories.
The numbers back it up.
Globally, the tequila market is forecast to grow from around $16.55 billion in 2026 to $25.04 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of close to 11%. Premium and super-premium expressions are the engine behind that growth: industry analysis shows that higher-value segments, including 100% agave and other premium tequilas, are taking an ever-larger share of both volume and value as the category matures.
Full-strength flavoured innovation remains almost entirely untapped.
Most of what currently sits on shelves under the “flavoured tequila” banner is not really tequila at all – it’s a lower-ABV liqueur, built around added sugar and artificial flavours rather than a genuine 100% agave spirit. Industry commentary increasingly draws a hard line between these two products: full-strength, naturally flavoured agave spirits are seen as a genuine quality statement, while sweetened, lower-strength liqueurs are a different category altogether, aimed at a different occasion, usually used for shots. That distinction matters, because it means the real gap HACIEN has identified, a premium, full-strength, 100% agave tequila with genuine flavour innovation, has barely been touched by any brand at scale. For investors, that’s the definition of a category still waiting for its leader.
What HACIEN Is Building
HACIEN was born to ignite a new era of Tequila, boldly innovating with 100% agave, crafting vibrant flavoured expressions that honour traditions while creating an exhilarating experience for the modern drinker. A tribute to the legendary haciendas that have cultivated blue agave for generations, HACIEN blends Mexican heritage with visionary thinking.
At its core is a super-smooth 100% agave Blanco, crafted at one of Jalisco’s most awarded distilleries. From this base, HACIEN has developed four flavoured expressions, Pineapple, Lemon & Lime, Coffee, and Summer Berries, designed to capture consumers looking for something new and exciting from tequila, without compromising on the tradition and craft that define the category.
The Precedent: What Flavour Did for Gin
HACIEN’s thesis, that tequila is about to have its “gin moment” , isn’t a hunch, it’s a pattern that has already played out once in the UK spirits market, and the scale of it is striking.
When flavoured gin arrived, it didn’t just add a niche product line, it reshaped the entire category. UK flavoured gin (pink and other variants) rocketed to a value of £165 million, a 751% increase in a single year, while the penetration of flavoured gin among UK shoppers grew by 160% year-on-year as younger, more adventurous drinkers were pulled into the category. The effect on individual brands was just as dramatic: Gordon’s Pink Gin went on to become the single best-selling gin brand in UK on-trade sales, outselling even the original Gordon’s London Dry.
Flavour didn’t just grow gin, in a market Kantar and other analysts have since described as reaching “peak” volumes for its traditional expressions, flavour innovation was consistently identified as the force still finding new drinkers and new occasions for the category.
Tequila today looks like gin did before that shift: a large, growing, on-trend spirit with strong cocktail credentials, but with no equivalent flavour-led premium leader yet established. HACIEN is built to be that brand.
“We believe tequila is having its gin moment, and just like gin, flavour is going to be the fuel that drives the next decade of growth,” the brand’s founders explain. “We’ve built HACIEN from the ground up to lead that charge, with authentic 100% agave foundations, serious distillery credentials, and flavours that honour tradition. Now we’re opening the doors so the people who believe in this category can be part of building it.” Seb Francis, founder of HACIEN Tequila
Momentum That Speaks for Itself
HACIEN’s growth to date reflects both strong consumer demand and serious trade credibility:
- Pioneering the flavoured tequila revolution – the UK’s first 100% agave flavoured tequila
- Award-winning recognition, including Tequila & Mezcal Masters 2026, Good Housekeeping taste-approved 2025, and a 2-star Great Taste Award
- 10x e-commerce growth between 2025 and 2026
- National distribution across hospitality, wholesale, retail and direct-to-consumer channels, with listings in over 350 venues and growing
- Premium retail and hospitality partners, including Harvey Nichols, Master of Malt, Radisson, Hilton and Bagatelle
- A presence in exceptional venues, from Michelin-starred restaurants to ‘leading hotel of the world’ Grantley Hall and The Samling
- High-profile brand activations, including official afterparties for the Monaco F1, the Sony Music Brit Awards, and the MTV VMAs
- National media coverage, with features in OKAY! Magazine, Good Housekeeping and beyond
The Raise: Fuel for the Next Stage of Growth
Having already raised £800,000 to date,including significant founder investment, HACIEN is now inviting trade and consumer investors to join its next chapter through Republic Europe.
Funds raised through the campaign will be deployed across:
- Brand and e-commerce growth, building on the momentum of 10x growth already achieved
- UK distribution, expanding HACIEN’s footprint across hospitality, retail and wholesale
- International expansion, including a confirmed listing with UAE premium retailer Spinneys
- Inventory, to meet accelerating demand across all channels
A Category-Defining Opportunity
With no established leader in flavoured premium tequila, a fast-growing core category, and a brand already proven across the UK’s most demanding retail and hospitality channels, HACIEN represents an early-stage opportunity to back the business, shaping where tequila goes next.
Find out more and register your interest and get all the details
Sources: Global Tequila Market Report (Research and Markets, 2026); IWSR Tequila Category Assessment; OhBev Tequila & Gin Market Forecasts 2026; Kantar, “The data behind Britain’s love of gin”; WSTA Market Report; Statista, UK on-premise gin brand sales.
This article is for information purposes and describes a live investment opportunity via crowdfunding platform Republic Europe. As with all early-stage investments, capital is at risk and readers should conduct their own due diligence before investing.