The 11th Hour Dispatch — Monday, August 27, 2018
BINGE WATCH
Who’s tryna hops and chill? Scottish beer company BrewDog hopes you are, as they’re launching a new beer-focused streaming service. The brewer hopes to both effectively market its product to craft beer fanatics and potentially open up a new revenue stream for itself. The incredibly niche BrewDog Network will run you $4.99 each month — a good amount less than that lukewarm, overpriced pint you gulp down in the trendy part of town. The service’s content lineup will include both licensed and original content. Some originals include Four Sheets, a travel series with Zane Lamprey; Are You Smarter Than a Drunk Person?, a game show hosted by former Parks and Recreation regular Alison Becker; and a reboot of The BrewDog Show, which originally aired on NBCUniversal’s now defunct Esquire Network.
BrewDog co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie will host The BrewDog Show. The two said in a statement, “After our previous TV show BrewDogs got cancelled, we didn’t want to sit around in our underpants, crying into a tub of ice cream. So we decided the only thing to do would be to build our own TV network.” The network’s licensed content includes series from William Shatner, chef Curtis Stone, and Canadian comedy duo Teddy Wilson and Norm Sousa. If you’re itching to get your hands on this (and not just because of that whole gluten thing), you can catch all of this on Android and iOS devices and at www.brewdognetwork.com.
YOUNG MONEY
Bellwether Coffee has picked up $10 million in Series A funding. The company hawks a zero-emissions electric commercial roaster (which is beautiful, I might add, if you’re into that whole hipster industrial thing like me) and a curated online bean marketplace. The round was led by Congruent Ventures with participation from FusionX Ventures, Tandem Capital, New Ground Ventures, Hardware Club, XN Ventures, and SolarCity founders Pete and Lyndon Rive. Pete Rive and Congruent managing partner Josh Posamentier will also join the company’s board. Previously, Bellwether raised $6 million in its 2016 seed round.
The company recently began leasing its roaster to businesses for $1,000 per month. That monthly fee includes access to Bellwether’s bean marketplace, which allows customers to pick beans from an assortment of approximately 20 coffee farms curated by Bellwether. The startup also allows retailers and caffeine fanatics to tip coffee farmers through its platform. CEO Nathan Gilliland explained that coffee farmers earn around $0.75 for every pound of coffee sold, so they could easily double their revenue if tipped just $1 from an over-caffeinated java nut that’s particular about their beans.
BIG BUSINESS
Facebook has banned 20 individuals and organizations from Myanmar, including the country’s military commander Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and the military’s Myawady TV network, for “committ[ing] or enabl[ing] serious human rights abuses in the country.” In a statement on its blog, the social network reported that it had disabled 52 pages, 18 accounts, and an Instagram account that were spreading information that stimulated violence and ethic cleansing activities against Rohingya Muslims. Collectively, these pages were followed by around 12 million people. For scale, Myanmar itself only has a population of 50 million, 60% of which are on Facebook. While the pages have been taken down, Facebook will be retaining all of the associated data. Facebook admitted that it had been “too slow to act,” but is now working to make up for it with more careful attention.
NOTHIN’ BUT ‘NET
I wish I was this dedicated to anything.
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