Smoking cessation technology startup e-Nicotine Technology has closed its first round of funding by raising more than $3.8 million.
The company said that that the funding round, which will be used to accelerate development of and commercialization of its electronic nicotine delivery device, was oversubscribed by investor interest. Significant investors in the series A round included Don Watkins, the co-founder of Handstands; Fraser Bullock, managing director at Sorenson Capital, and Christopher Munday, of Golden Gate Capital; Life Science Angels of Palo Alto, Calif.; and North Texas Angel Network, based in Dallas. Watkins is now chairman of the company.
E-Nicotine Technology was founded last year in Chapel Hill. The company is now based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
E-Nicotine Technology co-founder and CEO Jeff Williams is also a general partner at Summit Life Science partners, an early stage medical device venture fund based in Park City, Utah. Williams had previously led smoking cessation company Addicere Therapeutics, a spinout from Mountain View, Calif.-based Alexza Pharmaceuticals. Addicere was acquired by Cypress Bioscience.
E-Nicotine Technology has developed a proprietary “thermal drug delivery technology” that administers an aerosol of clean nicotine without the other chemicals and compounds in cigarette smoke. The company says its technology offers a better way get nicotine into the “deep lung” where it is best absorbed.
In February, Chief Medical Officer Michael Hufford announced at the CED Life Science Conference that the company was seeking to raise $3.3 million to fund the company’s efforts.
“There is a tremendous vote of confidance in this team and our technology,” Williams said in a statement. “By leveraging our expertise in creating condensation aerosols for deep lung delivery and rapid absorption, we are now ready to quickly accelerate the development of our nicotine inhaler.”
E-Nicotine Technology is targeting the nicotine aerosol industry, which the company says is projected to reach $1.7 billion in 2013 revenues. The company’s device will need to be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products for regulatory review.
