After vapes staved off the extinction of tobacco, a brand new technology of nicotine merchandise is promising a safer, albeit no much less addictive, type of consumption via tobacco-free pouches made common by the likes of Zyn and Velo. Now, a celebrity-backed upstart known as Sesh is attempting to problem these incumbents.
Buoyed by $40 million in enterprise funding from Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC, together with music stars Diplo and Publish Malone, Sesh is pitching itself as a safer various for cigarette and vape customers via so-called “white pouches”—one of many quickest rising shopper classes.
Whereas Sesh is competing in opposition to massive tobacco choices like Philip Morris’s Zyn, its founder and CEO, Max Cunningham, says that Sesh’s impartial standing—and distinctive system, designed by Zyn’s inventor—will make it a formidable opponent. “Not all pouches are created equal,” he instructed Fortune.
Courtesy of Sesh
The nicotine wars
A local of British Columbia, Cunningham grew up taking part in hockey, the place chewing tobacco was omnipresent. He shifted to vaping however couldn’t stop the behavior till he was launched to his first nicotine pouches. (Cunningham says he presently goes via a few half a can of Sesh, or 10 pouches, a day.)
Whereas pouches are nonetheless addictive, proponents argue that their lack of tobacco and combustion reduces the carcinogenic harms related to cigarettes and vapes, much like nicotine gum or patches. Whereas U.S. regulators are nonetheless attempting to wrap their arms across the class, former President Joe Biden gave the Meals and Drug Administration supervisory authority in 2022 because it moved to limit vapes. The vaping startup Juul has seen its valuation plummet 95% amid the regulatory crackdown.
The FDA, nonetheless, took a softer stance towards pouches, together with soliciting functions from producers, together with Sesh, which have been allowed to function. In early 2025, the company authorised advertising for various Zyn merchandise, together with its flavored choices, which signaled a transparent path for different corporations that had already submitted functions.
Cunningham characterised Zyn, which has turn into a cultural totem, because the “800-pound gorilla” within the quickly rising white pouch area, however he stated that Sesh’s up to date recipe serves as a bonus. That’s as a result of different corporations, whose choices are based mostly on nicotine salts, can not replace the formulation that they submitted to the FDA. Sesh, which was developed by Zyn inventor Thomas Ericsson, makes use of different chemical substances, together with MCT oil, which they are saying reduces the gum irritation attributable to different merchandise.
If the pouch wars are decided by cultural dominance, quite than components, Sesh can also be coming well-armed. Its latest funding spherical contains not simply the pop titans Publish Malone and Diplo, however comic Andrew Schulz, who is particularly common with the “podcast bro” crowd.
8VC’s Jake Medwell has been instrumental in serving to Sesh scale up, together with convincing the startup to maneuver to the enterprise agency’s residence of Austin. Medwell instructed Fortune he was drawn to Sesh, though 8VC doesn’t sometimes spend money on the buyer class, as a result of he believed within the startup’s mission of bringing nicotine customers to a safer solution to eat. “Individuals don’t wish to vape anymore,” he stated. (Nicotine itself is an unconventional class for enterprise capital, with many companies having restrictions on “vice” classes, however 8VC is understood for investing in controversial sectors like protection tech.)
Regardless of Sesh’s aim, the product’s fast progress raises the query of whether or not it would additionally entice new nicotine customers, together with youngsters. Whereas Cunningham admitted that it might be naive to assume that nobody underage will strive white pouches, he stated that Sesh is cautious with the way it promotes the product, equivalent to not utilizing TikTok. The corporate additionally doesn’t broadcast any well being claims, although influencers equivalent to Andrew Huberman have touted nicotine’s potential advantages to consideration and focus—an alarming improvement for a lot of public well being advocates.
In the meantime, Sesh continues to develop, with 30 full-time workers and availability in additional than 5,000 shops throughout the U.S. and Canada. Cunningham stated the corporate is on monitor to develop 5,000% year-over-year.
“We’re actually attempting to lift the usual in nicotine,” Cunningham stated. “It’s vital for rising manufacturers like Sesh to exist within the class, and for it to not be simply dominated by massive tobacco.”
