Brandon Perry

Brandon Perry
Birthplace	United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Entrepreneur, business executive
Known for	Co-founding Island Brands USA and Maverick Brands
Education	Towson University

Brandon Perry is an American entrepreneur and business executive who co-founded Island Brands USA, a lifestyle beverage company based in Charleston, South Carolina, alongside Scott Hansen. Perry served as Co-Founder, Co-CEO, and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of the company, which produced Island Coastal Lager and other beer and ready-to-drink products. A serial entrepreneur with experience across the technology, finance, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and marketing sectors, Perry has founded or co-founded multiple companies over the course of his career. He is also a co-founder of Maverick Brands, a crowdfunding and digital marketing agency. Perry and Hansen launched Island Brands USA in 2016 with the goal of creating a mainstream, easy-drinking beer using cleaner ingredients, and the company grew into one of the fastest-growing beer brands in the southeastern United States before facing an investor lawsuit that resulted in new ownership of the company.

Early Life

Details about Brandon Perry's early life and upbringing are limited in publicly available sources. Perry attended Towson University in Maryland. He subsequently settled in the Charleston, South Carolina area, where he would build his entrepreneurial career.

Perry and Scott Hansen first met in 2008 at the home of a mutual friend. According to SiP Magazine, the two men formed an immediate friendship, sharing common ground in their backgrounds in the technology field and in their personal lives, as both had children of similar ages. This relationship would prove pivotal, as the partnership between Perry and Hansen would become the foundation for several joint business ventures in the years that followed.

Education

Perry attended Towson University, located in Towson, Maryland. Further details regarding his specific degree or year of graduation have not been confirmed in available public sources.

Career

Early Entrepreneurial Ventures

Prior to his work in the beverage industry, Brandon Perry established himself as a serial entrepreneur operating across multiple sectors. According to his StartEngine investor profile, Perry founded, built, and successfully exited companies in the technology, finance, SaaS, marketing, and consumer products industries. His LinkedIn profile describes him as a six-time founder, with ventures spanning fintech, trust technology, SaaS, consumer finance, and other fields.

Perry's diverse entrepreneurial background provided him with experience in digital marketing, business scaling, and startup operations that would later be applied to his work in the beverage sector. His partnership with Scott Hansen, who had a similarly varied entrepreneurial background, brought together complementary skill sets that the two men would leverage in launching Island Brands USA.

Island Brands USA

Founding and Concept

The origin story of Island Brands USA traces back to a trip to Cuba taken by Perry and Hansen. According to the Post and Courier, the co-founders conceived of their beer company during that trip, where they found the local Cuban beer offerings to be lacking in quality. Charleston Magazine reported that after finding Cuban beer unsatisfactory, Hansen and Perry were inspired to develop and import a quality brew, initially with the goal of creating a beer they themselves would want to drink.

Perry and Hansen launched Island Brands USA in 2016 in Charleston, South Carolina. The company positioned itself as a producer of "clean, better-for-you, super premium beer," emphasizing the use of higher-quality ingredients in its products. The company's flagship product, Island Coastal Lager, was developed as a mainstream, easy-drinking beer intended for the retail market.

Role at the Company

Within Island Brands USA, Perry served in multiple leadership capacities. He held the titles of Co-Founder, Co-CEO, and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). His role as CMO was consistent with his entrepreneurial background in marketing and digital strategy. According to The Org, Perry also served as a board member and strategic advisor to the company.

Perry's marketing expertise played a role in the company's approach to brand building and customer acquisition. In his interview with Authority Magazine, Perry discussed his philosophy on disrupting the beverage industry, outlining strategies he believed were necessary to challenge established competitors in the beer market.

Equity Crowdfunding Strategy

One of the distinguishing aspects of Island Brands USA's business model was its use of equity crowdfunding as a primary financing mechanism rather than relying exclusively on traditional venture capital. The company conducted offerings through platforms such as StartEngine, allowing individual investors to acquire equity stakes in the business. This approach was notable within the beverage industry, where startups more commonly seek funding through private investors, venture capital firms, or strategic partnerships with established distributors and breweries.

Beverage Master highlighted the company's use of technology as a competitive advantage, noting that Perry and Hansen leveraged digital tools and crowdfunding platforms as part of their strategy to build and scale the business.

Growth and Distribution

Island Brands USA experienced significant growth in the years following its founding. The company's Island Coastal Lager became one of the fastest-growing beer brands in the southeastern United States. The brand secured distribution in major retail chains, expanding its footprint across multiple states in the region.

In May 2021, Island Brands USA announced the launch of two new beer products, expanding its portfolio beyond the flagship Island Coastal Lager. The product expansion reflected the company's ambition to grow from a single-product startup into a multi-brand beverage company.

The Post and Courier reported in April 2021 that the Charleston-based company was positioning itself to compete directly with major beer companies, a move that reflected both the brand's growth trajectory and the founders' ambitions for the business. The Charleston City Paper in October 2022 described how Island Brands had evolved from its origins as a beer conceived for Cuba into what it called a "Southern sensation."

Investor Lawsuit and Ownership Transition

Island Brands USA's growth was followed by legal complications. According to Brewbound, the company's co-founders, including Perry, faced an investor lawsuit. The dispute resulted in a change of ownership, with new owners taking over the company. The Brewbound report noted that what had started as a concept born on a trip to Cuba had encountered significant corporate governance challenges as the company scaled. Specific details regarding the nature of the legal claims, the timeline of the proceedings, and the terms of any resolution or settlement were not fully detailed in publicly available reporting.

Maverick Brands

In addition to Island Brands USA, Perry co-founded Maverick Brands alongside Scott Hansen. Maverick Brands operated as a crowdfunding and digital marketing agency, applying the expertise the co-founders had developed through their experience with equity crowdfunding campaigns for Island Brands USA to assist other companies and brands.

Subsequent Ventures

Following his work with Island Brands USA, Perry's LinkedIn profile indicated that he moved into the financial technology sector, working on a project described as "Financial Infrastructure (Stealth)." This transition reflected Perry's pattern of founding companies across diverse industries, with his career arc moving from technology to beverages and back to fintech. His profile described him as working in both fintech and "TrustTech," a term referring to technology solutions focused on trust, verification, and identity in financial systems.

Public Appearances and Media

Perry has made several public appearances and been featured in media coverage related to his entrepreneurial activities. He was interviewed by Authority Magazine for its "Meet The Disruptors" series, in which he discussed his approach to shaking up the beer industry and the strategies he believed were necessary for entrepreneurs seeking to challenge incumbents in established markets.

Perry and Scott Hansen appeared together on the podcast "Business One-0-Fun," where they discussed the founding and growth of Island Brands and the story behind Island Coastal Lager. The co-founders were also profiled together in SiP Magazine, which detailed their friendship, shared interests, and the evolution of their business partnership.

Both the Post and Courier and Charleston Magazine featured Perry in their coverage of Island Brands USA, highlighting the company's Charleston roots and the co-founders' ambitions to compete with larger, established beer brands. Beverage Master profiled the company in an article focused on its use of technology to drive business success in the beverage industry.

Personal Life

Brandon Perry is based in the Charleston, South Carolina area. According to SiP Magazine, Perry and Scott Hansen bonded in part over the fact that both men had children of similar ages when they first met in 2008. Further details about Perry's personal life have not been widely reported in public sources.