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The world’s first carbon-negative rum distillery raised an astonishing £150,000 from investors in just three hours and is now seeking further investment as it plots growth in the £1billion º£½ÇÊÓƵ rum market.

The ambitious Two Drifters Distillery, in Exeter, hit its shortly after going live and founders Gemma and Russ Wakeham said they are willing to accept overfunding beyond their initial target. At the time of writing the appeal had netted almost £182,000 from 240 investors.

Launched in 2019, the Two Drifters brand has achieved colossal growth with capacity raised from 80 bottles per week to 1,800. It has already sold more than 5,000 bottles and secured contracts with John Lewis, and on the Virgin Wines online platform, and has produced a special spiced rum for rugby’s European and Premiership champions Exeter Chiefs.

It is now raising funds to grow sales further and target other large retailers. The distillery is also recognised in the industry as championing sustainability and limiting impact on the environment.

Two Drifters, based in a bespoke warehouse on the Skyways Business Park near Exeter Airport, is entirely carbon negative from field to glass. Its building, equipment and van are electric and have a zero-emission tariff.

Any emissions its chain does incur are offset with Direct Air Capture, working in partnership with Swiss technology firm Climeworks to take CO2 from the atmosphere and convert the gas into chalk, which can then be buried in the ground.

Mr Wakeham, co-founder of Two Drifters, said: “We’re incredibly proud of how far we have come since launching Two Drifters in 2019 and delighted we’ve already hit our crowdfunding target.”

He added: “Our ethos is to produce award-winning rums with minimal impact on the planet. We believe there are very few British distilleries that actually make rum from raw ingredients, rather than importing it and flavouring it and we’re confident our rum can compete with the best Caribbean rums on the market.”