You vape bro? If you do, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard of the San Francisco-based vape powerhouse, Juul Labs.
As of yesterday, an SEC filing showed they just raised a $112m round of funding, and that number could potentially steez its way up to a $150m convertible note offering.
This is interesting for a couple of reasons
Since hitting the streets in 2015, Juul’s new sleek rectangular devices have surpassed other vape rigs manufactured by the big tobacco giants.
According to Nielsen data, Juul now controls 32.9% of the vape market, above British American Tobacco at 27.4% and Altria at 15.2%. And, in the past year alone, the vape star grew revenue 700% to hit $224.6m.
*Pause for post-numbers brain breather*
Vaping is still a hot-button topic
Once marketed as the safer alternative to smoking, recent studies have shown that vaping could be more harmful than people once thought: potentially promoting gum disease and lung cancer.
Meanwhile, Juul has sparked a vaping epidemic in high schools (“to Juul” is now a verb synonymous with smoking amongst teens), as kids can easily sneak the devices into school for a little pre-class Juuling in the bathroom.