Chinese vape brand TAKI raised 55 million yuan investment in the round A financing. And the financing source of this round has not been disclosed yet. However, the source of funds may be state-owned capital according to people inside TAKI.
TAKI Brand is the subsidiary of Beijing Konjac Technology Co., Ltd. This company was founded in March 2019 with a registered capital of 50 million yuan. The founder is Zhong Yufei, a former Xiaomi employee ranking 21st. The founding team is mainly from Xiaomi, Jinshan, Meizu and other technology Internet companies.
Zhong Yufei also published “5500, thank you for the support behind the scenes” in Wechat Friends Circle and Weibo, suspiciously referring to the success of financing in the early morning of May 27.
TAKI held its first new product launch and released a new vape on May 21. The 1 yuan pod system is revealed at the meeting and the structure design of the atomizer was completely open source, which enables other manufacturers to design matching pods for consumers.
Soon afterwards, Xiaomi responded by denying the idea of entering electronic cigarettes. According to Sina, Xiaomi denoted then, “There are clear internal norms, any ecological chain enterprises owned products or their own business practices, are not allowed to use Xiaomi or Mijia brand.” Public information shows that Tianjin Jinmi Investment has withdrawn from the Konjac Technology shareholder list on May 17.
The electronic cigarette is a new rising industry in recent years. Juul, an American electronic cigarette unicorn company, was founded in 2015. When it was acquired by Altria Group, Marlboro Mother Company, at the end of last year, its value has reached $38 billion, accounting for 75% of the U.S. electronic cigarette market. Fifteen thousand employees were awarded about $1.3 million in year-end awards last year for joining Juul to achieve financial freedom. According to incomplete statistics, there have been more than ten financing incidents of start-ups in the field of the vape industry since 2019.
