Fawn Weaver established a scholarship to carry the torch of excellence surrounding Nearest Green. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Weaver is the CEO and co-founder of Uncle Nearest, a whiskey brand valued at over a billion dollars. The brand was born after she came across a 2016 New York Times article while traveling in Singapore. The article featured an image of Jack Daniel alongside a group of men, with Nathan “Nearest” Green—known as Uncle Nearest—positioned in a way that ensured he wouldn’t be overlooked. In 1864, Green, who was enslaved, began teaching Daniel how to make whiskey in Tennessee. Daniel went on to sell whiskey throughout Lynchburg, TN, and the business formed into the popular brand Jack Daniel’s. Green’s role had been lost over time despite him being the master distiller at the Jack Daniel Distillery and the first African-American master distiller on record in U.S. history. As a whiskey maker, research shows he became the wealthiest African American in Lynchburg,...

Uncle Nearest Whiskey’s founder has a word of advice for Beyoncé as she plants herself in the spirits industry. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the “Cowboy Carter” singer released SirDavis in August 2024. The American whisky brand was launched in partnership with Moët Hennessy, and its inaugural product is inspired by Japanese and Scotch whiskies with promises to maintain “the robust and deep flavors typical of classic American rye,” a press release mentioned. The venture is inspired by Beyoncé’s paternal great-grandfather Davis Hogue, who was a farmer and worked as a “moonshiner” in the midst of the Prohibition era. “Our whiskey’s legacy dates back over 200 years to a Black man in Alabama in the 1800s… a man who was a businessman and an entrepreneur, but would have never had the opportunity to create a mainstream whiskey back then. Systemic barriers would not have allowed it,” she mentioned, according to GQ. “But it turns out that my great-grandfather’s hands planted the seed...

Uncle Nearest is making history as the fastest-growing Ameri­can whiskey brand ever, according to Forbes. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Fawn Weaver serves as founder and CEO and established the company to honor “Nearest” Green, a formerly enslaved man who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. The company has since received significant backing, even in the midst of Weaver’s clear stance that she has no intention of selling the business, which has grown to include a 458-acre distillery with the world’s longest bar (518 feet). Products are now featured in over 30,000 stores, bars, hotels, and restaurants in 12 countries. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey (@unclenearest) By November 2023, Weaver had raised $225 million in individual support. Per Forbes, the business is backed by 163 individual investors, providing an average check of $500,000 a person. “The most difficult thing in starting any business. It’s always the capital,” Weaver told...

Founder Fawn Weaver’s Uncle Nearest is on the brink of reaching unicorn status, Fortune reports. As AFROTECH previously mentioned, Weaver leads the Black-owned whiskey company created in 2016 to commemorate Nathan “Nearest” Green, a formerly enslaved man who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. The company has made significant strides in the spirits industry and is currently available in over 30,000 stores, bars, hotels, and restaurants in 12 countries, per Fortune. The company also boasts a 432-acre distillery located in Shelbyville, TN, which attracted 200,000 visitors in 2023, and has expanded to include an estate in Cognac, France, which encompasses “over 100 acres with Charente River frontage and a unique island.” A part of the company’s continued success has been its ability to secure funding from individual support. Weaver previously mentioned to AFROTECH that the company has raised $225 million that way, its total since launching. “I’ve never sent a pitch deck,” Weaver...

Uncle Nearest CEO and Founder Fawn Weaver will consistently place her trust in the excellence of the premium whiskey brand.

Fawn Weaver may be on a mission to create the blueprint for how to build generational wealth.

In an effort to diversify the cocktail sector, Hella Cocktail Co. has received $5 million in funding. Hella Cocktail Co.

Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey , the fastest-growing and best-selling Black-owned spirit brand in all of U.S. history, has just announced a multi-million dollar initiative to give back to its fellow spirits brands. According to a press release, the award-winning whiskey brand has launched a $50 million venture fund designed specifically to invest in rapidly growing, minority-founded and owned spirit brands. The announcement was deliberately timed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the destruction done to Black Wall Street in Tulsa, OK. “On June 1, 1921, an entire community of wealthy and successful African Americans was wiped out in a matter of hours. We are talking about 35 square blocks known as Black Wall Street,” Uncle Nearest founder/ CEO Fawn Weaver said in a statement. “As an African American, learning about that history broke my heart because we, as a people, were really onto something in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We were lifting one another up and creating wealth within our own...