Garage Beer Financing: Kelces Land $20M Tiger Finance Deal

Travis and Jason Kelce's beer business has secured fresh financial firepower. The Garage Beer financing deal — a $20 million revolving credit facility from Tiger Finance — was confirmed on Tuesday, Oct. 13, a representative for the brand told PEOPLE, giving the Columbus, Ohio-based light lager brand room to grow its lineup and push into new markets. The debt financing arrives as the independent beer industry faces rising costs and slowing sales, a squeeze that has forced many smaller breweries to close or refinance. The Kelce-backed brand, by contrast, keeps expanding. Brian Amicon, the company's president, told Inc. the funding gives Garage Beer greater flexibility, "from strengthening our distribution to investing in the brand and creating more opportunities to connect with consumers." ## Garage Beer Financing Arrives as Debt, Not Equity The Garage Beer financing takes the form of a revolving line rather than an equity sale. Tiger Finance, the lender behind the facility, said it was chosen as the brand's preferred financial partner. Andy Cerussi, the firm's senior managing director, said Tiger was "thrilled" to back the company and praised the impact the Kelce brothers have had on brand awareness. The revolving credit facility works much like a business credit card: Garage Beer can borrow when it needs capital, repay, and borrow again up to the $20 million limit — growth funding without giving up equity. ## Garage Beer Financing to Fund Expansion Into New Markets The money is earmarked for two goals: broadening the product lineup and entering new markets. Garage Beer sells a 4% ABV lager with 95 calories and 3 grams of carbohydrates, currently offered in Classic and Lime varieties. Patrick Khayat, co-founder of Durational Capital Management — the investment firm that took a strategic stake in the brand in September 2025, when it was reportedly valued at nearly $200 million — said the lender was a debt partner Durational had worked with before and was well placed to support consumer brands with long-term lending. ## Garage Beer Financing Follows a Proven Playbook The Garage Beer financing is the latest example of celebrity-backed consumer brands choosing debt over equity to fund growth. By borrowing against brand strength rather than selling more of the company, the owners keep control while gaining flexible capital — a structure that sits at the smaller end of tracked deals but fits a business still proving its national scale. The approach mirrors how other athlete-led ventures have funded expansion in recent years. Industry watchers say the Garage Beer financing reflects a wider pattern: as valuations for consumer brands stay rich, founders increasingly prefer credit facilities that fund expansion without dilution. For now, the Garage Beer financing gives the company a war chest to prove the brand can scale beyond its home turf. ## What Comes Next for the Kelce-Backed Brand The Kelce brothers came aboard as co-owners and operators in June 2024, joining a company founded in 2018 in their native Ohio and led since 2023 by Andy Sauer. Their star power — Travis still starring for the Kansas City Chiefs, Jason retired from the Philadelphia Eagles and now a media fixture — has turned a regional light lager into a national name. The new financing bets that athlete-driven brand strength can keep driving growth even as the wider beer market cools. For the Kelce brothers, the $20 million facility is the latest sign their business portfolio is scaling as fast as their fame. It caps a year in which the brand moved from regional curiosity to national player, and whether it can convert star power into lasting shelf space will determine how far the current facility stretches.