Knowledge base · September 27, 2026 · updated October 12, 2026 · Stefan Bensmo

The Money Behind the Challengers: Private Capital in Nicotine Pouches Outside Big Tobacco

Our previous review of acquisitions showed how Big Tobacco buys up existing brands. But a different kind of capital is doing something else right now: building entirely new challengers from scratch, sometimes with help from the very person who invented ZYN.

The man credited with inventing ZYN is now selling formulas to its competitors

Thomas Ericsson, a Swedish chemist whom Inc. describes as the inventor of ZYN, now acts as advisor and part-owner to several new, independent challengers. According to Inc., he spent years in his garage developing a formula for white snus, and Swedish Match approached him in 2009 about bringing his white nicotine pouch to market; ZYN debuted in the US in 2014 (Philip Morris International acquired Swedish Match in 2022). Swedish Match and PMI have not themselves named an inventor in the sources we have reviewed. One of them is Sesh+, founded by Max Cunningham, which raised $40 million in funding in September 2025 led by venture capital firm 8VC (founded by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale) alongside Troy Link, CEO of the snack company Jack Link's. Other investors include musicians Post Malone, Diplo, and Zach Bryan, and comedian Andrew Schulz. Ericsson holds a patent on Sesh+'s formula, which the company acquired, and has himself become a part-owner of the business.

Sesh+ markets its formula as pH-balanced and built on MCT oil rather than nicotine salts, arguing it causes less gum irritation — a claim from the company itself that we have not been able to verify independently. Ericsson also advises Zolv, an early-stage startup developing nicotine strips that is still awaiting FDA marketing authorization before it can sell its product in the US.

Venture capital is building challengers, not just funding buyouts

Lucy Goods, based in Los Angeles and founded by David Renteln and John Coogan, is another example: according to Crunchbase, the company has raised capital across five funding rounds from investors including Top Shelf Ventures and FundRx, and sells nicotine pouches as well as "Breakers" — hydrating pouches — across several strengths and flavors.

According to Built In LA, Lucy Goods raised a $10 million Series A in February 2020. We have found no acquisition of the company.

Our interpretation This is a different kind of capital flow from the one we saw in our review of acquisitions. That was about buying up existing revenue. Here, venture capital and private individuals are instead betting on building a new competitor from zero, using technically differentiated formulation as the argument rather than marketing budget alone. That ZYN's own inventor is willing to sell his expertise on to competitors is itself a sign that formulation is still seen as a viable competitive edge — despite Big Tobacco's scale advantages in distribution and capital.

At the same time, it's worth noting what none of these companies have done yet: sell themselves to Big Tobacco. As long as they stay independent, celebrity capital and venture capital are a weather forecast rather than a verdict — historically, this exact kind of fast-growing challenger brand (see our review of earlier acquisitions) has often ended up as an acquisition target rather than a durably independent company.

A third path: family capital without venture investors

Not every independent challenger is built with institutional venture capital. GN Tobacco Sweden, maker of White Fox and Siberia, was founded by Gevorg Nalbandyan more than 20 years ago (2004) and, by the company's own account, still operates as a family-owned business within the GN Group structure, without external private-equity financing. That shows there are at least three separate capital paths outside Big Tobacco right now: institutional venture capital with celebrity investors (Sesh+, Lucy Goods), early seed bets on products still awaiting regulatory approval (Zolv), and organically built family capital with no external ownership spread (GN Tobacco).

Update, October 2026: the exit route in practice

When this article was first published, none of the challengers above had sold to Big Tobacco. That still holds for Sesh+, Lucy Goods and GN Tobacco — but during 2026 the exit route has played out in practice for other independent brands:

• Black Buffalo was acquired by Imperial Brands in May 2026: $150 million upfront plus a three-year performance-based payment.
• Helwit — Sweden’s Yoik Group AB, with 3.4% of the Swedish market — was acquired by Imperial Brands on September 7, 2026: SEK 515 million upfront plus a two-year performance-based payment.
• ALP shows a hybrid: the brand is owned 50/50 by Turning Point Brands and Tucker Carlson’s company, launched in November 2024, and combines celebrity capital with an established tobacco company’s distribution.
• LOOP: a takeover of maker Another Snus Factory by KT&G (51%) and Altria (49%) was reported in late 2025. We have not been able to verify completion.

The pattern confirms the reasoning above: independent brands with real traction become acquisition targets, and buyers tie a large part of the price to future performance. See the full ownership map of the nicotine pouch brands.

What it means for you

• Formulation can still be a fundable competitive advantage. That the industry's most experienced chemist chooses to sell his expertise on to new companies, rather than staying with one major player, is an argument that product innovation is not exhausted in this category.
• Celebrity capital brings reach but also a reputation to manage. Investors who are public figures tie the brand to their own visibility — which can be an asset, but is also a risk worth weighing into the ownership structure from the start.
• The kind of capital you take on decides your exit horizon. Institutional venture capital typically assumes a sale or listing within a few years, while family capital like GN Tobacco's allows for a longer, more independent timeframe — choose your capital source based on the outcome you actually want.

We help assess which funding path fits your growth plan — see board and management support and product development.