| Founded | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Country | USA |
| Sector | Hardware |
| Total raised | ~$15.7B USD |
| Collapse type | Regulatory Kill |
| Founder | Adam Bowen |
Juul Labs
"E-cigarette startup hit $38B valuation after Altria paid $12.8B for 35%. FDA bans, youth epidemic lawsuits, and congressional hearings. Altria wrote off the entire investment."
Forced closure by regulatory action
Key Events Timeline
Juul Labs was co-founded in 2015 by Adam Bowen and James Monsees in San Francisco — both Stanford design graduates — by spinning out from PAX Labs, which they had founded to make premium vaporizers.
// full analysis
Full analysis requires the Analyst plan
Documented cause · Market cycle · Competitive moat type · Verified lesson
€149/mo · or contribute your autopsy for free access →
UnicornBurn Season 0 opens July 2026. 10,000 founders competing in one world. Your startup fights for the market every Saturday. Most will end up here. Which one are you?
JOIN SEASON 0 →Juul Labs followed a documented pattern. Identify the same signals in any company before they reach the point of no return.
Witnessed a startup failure first-hand? Share the real story. First-hand accounts from founders and team members get prioritized for publication.
SUBMIT AN AUTOPSY →Failure intelligence for due diligence and risk analysis.
Structured dataset by collapse type, for 5031 startups. 7-day trial.
See plans →Free JSON API. No key required. 50 autopsies, 10 req/day.
Full dataset available with Intelligence plan API key. CORS enabled.
Explore API →Academic, press, or research use? Free JSON API available — no auth required →