Meet the startup that makes quitting cigarettes, vaping and Zyn cool
Summary
They won a pitch competition at the end of the course, earning $1.1 million in pre-seed funding from investors including Good Friends (started by the founders of Warby Parker, Allbirds and the razor company Harrys) and started developing an app that uses cognitive behavioral therapy and positive encouragement to help people quit cigarettes, vapes and pouches that customers use in conjunction with nicotine lozenges. Jones generated $5 million in revenue last year and has a goal to reach $10 million in sales by the end of 2025.The latest startup in the stodgy, highly regulated $3 billion (global annual sales) nicotine replacement therapy market, Jones does not manufacture its NRT lozengesit buys them from a third-party, FDA-approved manufacturer. The company, which says its customer base is 60% women and 40% men, is also collaborating with the Los Angeles jewelry brand Monbouquette to make a petite sterling silver lozenge box, which will sell for $295 and can also be used as a necklace. During New York Fashion Week, Jones passed out tins of its lozenges to models backstage during Jonathan Cohen, Kallmeyer, and Tanner Fletchers shows.The brand is also trying to modernize the marketing and approach of existing NRTs. With 28 million smokers in America, cigarettes remain the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United Stateskilling 480,000 people a year.