Success Story: Sanctum Tequila

Tequila brand leverages Dream Fund to benefit children’s shelters in Mexico

Location: Southern California | Riverside County

Business Type: Retail, Alcoholic Beverages

Small Business Center: Caravanserai Project

Assistance Received: Dream Fund Grant, Training, Access to Capital

Visit Sanctum Tequila online

Father Lorenzo Lebrija, founder of Sanctum Tequila, received a $10,000 Dream Fund grant from the California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) to grow the nonprofit organization. Sanctum Tequila was born from Father Lebrija’s volunteer service at a children’s shelter in Mexicali – he wanted to build a business to support the kids at the shelter with basics like keeping the lights on.

“Without the Dream Fund, I would not have taken the step to launch when I did,” said Father Lebrija. Father Lebrija received technical assistance from Caravanserai Project, a provider in the CalOSBA Technical Assistance Partner Network. He is leveraging the Dream Fund grant to run Instagram ads, re-do the website, which just re-launched in early February 2023, and to help with client acquisition.

Father Lebrija worked with his 80-year-old father, a serial entrepreneur, to develop the direct-to-consumer model and launched Sanctum Tequila in the summer of 2022 as a dream – first as a Limited Liability Company and then switched to a nonprofit organization. They worked together to find a tequila distiller in Jalisco, Mexico willing to take their custom recipe and produce small batches for distribution. He found a distributor to transport the tequila from Jalisco to Tijuana and then into the United States. 100% of the proceeds for Sanctum Tequila are donated to Border Compassion to assist children’s shelters in Mexico.

Updated: 11/17/2023