Juul is growing faster than Facebook and authorities are beginning to worry

When it comes to e-cigs, Juul is without a doubt the most successful brand. Manufacturer Juul Labs has in fact surpassed all startups in the world in terms of valuation, reaching record heights. In seven months, the company passed the 15 billion dollar threshold, which has never been seen before. This is significantly more growth than Facebook, Snapchat, or Dropbox.

Juul is a bit of an alien in the rather tight-knit but popular world of vaping.  Three years after their launch, their success, and their profits, have inspired many others.  Juul Labs has the “Decacorn” label, that is to say a company valuation over 10 billion dollars. This is truly unique given the timeframe.

Juul’s “worrying” success

While these figures shed light on the popularity of vaping, they also point to a potential monopoly, despite criticisms the company has faced. They have often been accused of encouraging under-age consumers to try e-cigs, although this has not arrested the company’s momentum.  It’ll take more than that to cut into the group’s growth which, in late 2017, represented 60% of e-cig sales.

While Juul Labs executives are patting each other on the back for this meteoric rise, the FDA are far from happy about it. The health authority is worried that younger consumers are getting addicted to these USB-stick devices that deliver a powerful and addictive molecule. The FDA has been vocal in their opinion that e-cigs are a gateway drug.

The FDA is looking for ways to curb Juul’s growth, along with that of other e-cig companies, by banning flavoured e-liquids in the Bay Area for example. This appears to be an explicit message to Juul, given the company was launched in the city of San Francisco. A war has been declared between Juul Labs and the FDA, and neither seem to be backing down.