Diageo invests in Australian whisky Starward

Diageo, the world's biggest Scotch whisky distiller, has invested in an Australian distillery to help it expand into new export markets.

Distill Ventures, which is part of the Diageo group, said it was investing an unspecified sum in Melbourne-based Starward Whisky.

This marks the second whisky investment for Distill, which was set up to back early-stage brands and help them grow.

Last week, it announced investment in Denmark-based Stauning Whisky.

David Gates, Diageo's global head of premium core spirits, said: "Australian whisky has rightly been gaining increasing global recognition recently and Starward has developed a uniquely positioned whisky to capture this opportunity."

Frank Lampen, co-founder of Distill Ventures, added: "The Starward team are exactly the types of entrepreneur we love working with.

"Their vision for the future is really exciting and this investment will enable increased production of their signature single malts and continued development of their innovation pipeline."

Last year Diageo had a 37% share of the Scotch whisky market in terms of volumes.