NJOY Gains $70+ Million in Funding

NJOY, probably the largest maker of electronic cigarettes not owned by a tobacco company, announced it has acquired more than $70 million after its latest round of fund-raising efforts.

“As the only electronic cigarette brand whose corporate mission is to obsolete cigarettes, NJOY is dedicated to delivering the most satisfying products to our customers, advancing the science and expanding the brand globally without the inherent conflicts constraining competitors owned by tobacco companies.”

The largest investors in NJOY were Brookside Capital and Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

NJOY has said that the cash will be used to fund marketing, expansion, and research and development, including clinical trials.

This round of funding mirrors a similar drive from last year — NJOY received another $75 million in June of 2013 from a group of investors, including $10 million from Napster founder and former Facebook president Peter Thiel’s firm, Founders Fund.

E-Cig Maker NJOY Raises More Than $70 Million | CSPnet.

NJOY Gains $70+ Million in Funding

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NJOY Sues Victory

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NJOY Offers Free E-Cig

Forbes Interviews NJOY"s Marketing Officer

Forbes Interviews NJOY"s Marketing Officer

Fake Cigarettes, or Something Bigger?

Fake Cigarettes, or Something Bigger?

NJOY and Nicolites Back UK Regulations

NJOY and Nicolites Back UK Regulations

NJOY Gets $75 MiIlion in Investments

NJOY Gets $75 MiIlion in Investments

Bruno Mars Invests in NJOY

Bruno Mars Invests in NJOY

The Marlboro Men of E-Cigarettes

A rather lengthy published in Sunday’s New York Magazine covers the marketing challenges facing e-cigarette companies. They compare the challenges to the ones faced by Marlboro in 1955, a time when filters were seen as something less than manly. Similar challenges are being faced today by e-cigarettes, with many see as too trendy, too hipster, and maybe a little wimpy. It raises the question, “would James Dean smoke one of these?”

James Dean

The article focuses on NJOY, going into great detail about what NJOY has done to combat the image, and to make their product as realistically cigarette-like at possible, from testing various flavors and construction, to coming to the discovery that one of the things people appreciate most about an e-cigarette is big, fluffy clouds of vapor.

“To see people’s faces and reactions when this big plume of vapor is coming out, we knew we were getting close.” – Mark Scatterday, NJOY creator

The piece closes with an explanation of how a tweet from Courtney Love to NJOY praising their product turned into a commercial for NJOY, and suggests that what e-cigarette marketing needs to appeal to smokers might just be a little less emphasis on health, and a little more on attitude.

Has NJOY Resolved the E-Cigarette’s Image Problem? — New York Magazine.

The Marlboro Men of E-Cigarettes