ExactTarget Alums Start High-Tech Brewery

A group of ExactTarget alumni is bringing its high-tech experience to the beer industry. Greater Cincinnati-based Braxton Brewing Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Gandolf says the brewery started as a fun side project that became "very real, very fast." Braxton has doubled production in each of the last three years and distributes in Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky. Gandolf says the brewery hopes to bring its beer to Indiana either late this year or early next year.

During an interview on Inside INdiana Business With Gerry Dick, Gandolf said the leadership team uses technology and techniques from ExactTarget to grow the business.

Gandolf says the idea for the brewery came from a conversation in the founders’ downtown Indianapolis apartment. He says, in that apartment, they had someone who studied entrepreneurship, someone who studied marketing and an accountant, which provided a good foundation for the business. Gandolf says, since their background is in technology and marketing instead of beer, they were willing to take more risks than others.

Braxton opened its second facility in Newport, Kentucky in 2017. Gandolf, an Indiana native and Purdue University grad, says "regional is a great goal," with the brewery eyeing Indiana, Illinois and Michigan as potential new markets. The craft brewery produces more than 15,000 barrels per year.