Xing Chenyue: The Unsung Woman Behind JUUL's Pod System Success

Xing Chenyue, the founder of MYST LABS and chief scientist at Shenzhen Mist Technology Co., Ltd., is a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California and an Asian female scientist. She has held positions in project management at the publicly listed pharmaceutical company Dermia and as chief scientist at JUUL, where she is credited with the invention of nicotine salts and is known as the woman behind the well-known global e-cigarette brand Juul.
 
In 2009, after graduating, Xing Chenyue joined Genentech, the oldest biotechnology company in the United States, as a researcher. In the following years, she worked as a scientist at North American pharmaceutical companies such as MAP, focusing on respiratory drugs research.
 
In 2013, Xing Chenyue became the chief scientist at Juul, a startup with over 20 employees. There, she successfully invented nicotine salts, which have revolutionary significance for the e-cigarette industry, and participated in establishing the FDA's e-cigarette industry standards, setting new benchmarks for the industry in five major areas: raw materials, technology, equipment, ingredients, and transportation, greatly contributing to the healthy and orderly development of the e-cigarette industry. Nicotine salts, which provide a smoking experience very close to traditional cigarettes, quickly gained user acceptance for Juul (capturing 76% of the U.S. market share), propelling the U.S. e-cigarette market into a fast track of development and helping Juul become the largest e-cigarette brand globally.

Later, when Juul ventured into the field of cannabis distillation and purification devices, Xing Chenyue chose to leave Juul. At that time, the company claimed its goal was to help smokers meet their nicotine needs while reducing their consumption of harmful substances, but this move did not particularly interest this scientist.
 
In 2017, Xing Chenyue co-founded Myst Labs with venture capitalist Thomas Yao, whom she met over a decade ago at Fudan University in Shanghai.

When Myst Labs was founded, Juul was approaching a staggering valuation of $38 billion, despite facing criticism for enticing teenagers to use e-cigarettes. Meanwhile, in China, e-cigarettes were just beginning to gain popularity. Research from Suzhou Securities showed that although China is the world's largest producer of e-cigarette products, it only accounts for 6% of the global e-cigarette market. Xing Chenyue wanted to seize this opportunity, this time controlling the quality in the lab.

Xing Chenyue said: "We certainly hope that Myst can achieve the same social impact in China as Juul has in the U.S. We want Myst to leave a positive impression on Chinese smokers." "Myst can gradually change the way people smoke and gradually reduce their nicotine intake."
 

In early 2019, Xing Chenyue returned to China to officially establish Shenzhen Mist Technology Co., Ltd. and incubated the e-cigarette brand Myst Labs. Inspired by Xing Chenyue's entrepreneurial spirit, Myst Labs currently boasts a very luxurious entrepreneurial team: 1. Angel investor Thomas Yao, who invested in the largest ride-sharing company in the U.S., Lime, and India's largest payment platform, Paytm; 2. Daniel Chen, former general manager of TCL's smart applications division and an executive at Hong Kong's first publicly listed robotics company; 3. Yu Liu, former president of Blackberry in China; 4. Product manager Cao Yingqun, who previously worked as a product manager for Google Home and Juul; 5. Design director Hao Jiandong, who was previously a design director at the international design company IDEO. In addition, there are many more.
 
Recently, the Myst e-cigarette brand has launched its first flagship e-cigarette product, the P1, touted as the world's first e-cigarette with a pull-out hidden mouthpiece design.
 
Regarding why she chose to return to China to start a business in the e-cigarette field, Xing Chenyue candidly stated: "I have suffered from secondhand smoke in public places since I was young and have witnessed relatives in my family go through multiple attempts to quit smoking and relapse, or for the sake of their family's living environment, smokers can only go outdoors to satisfy their cravings regardless of the weather. After seeing how Juul significantly increased the conversion rate of American smokers to e-cigarette users, I thought that Chinese smokers should also have the opportunity to have new choices to improve their quality of life for themselves and their families. In China, there are 350 million smokers (equivalent to the total population of the U.S.), and as many as 700 million smokers suffer from secondhand smoke. I have seen the positive changes that nicotine salts have brought to American families, and I have also witnessed the explosive growth of the domestic e-cigarette market. I want to bring my research results from the U.S. to China and share them with more people in need."

Finally, I sincerely wish Xing Chenyue a successful entrepreneurial journey in the e-cigarette field, and I hope that her founded MYSTLABS brand can become the Chinese version of JUUL.