KMOSE Raises Tens of Millions of Yuan in Angel Funding

According to news on August 20, newly established e-cigarette brand KMOSE has completed an angel financing round worth tens of millions of yuan.

KMOSE said the funds will mainly be used for product R&D and manufacturing, as well as channel development and channel brand building.

Founded in March 2019, KMOSE is an e-cigarette brand under Shenzhen Quxin Technology Co., Ltd. The brand is committed to crafting products with an artisan spirit and creating safer, healthier, and cost-effective e-cigarette products affordable to China’s 350 million smokers.

It is reported that KMOSE’s core founding team has many years of experience in internet business, fast-moving consumer goods, and media operations. The team places strong emphasis on product experience, has already built a sales channel network, and has developed rapidly since its establishment, becoming a dark horse in the e-cigarette industry.
 
KMOSE has recently been connected to two pieces of industry news.

On August 8, KMOSE claimed that one of its products had been copied by a newly founded domestic e-cigarette brand, drawing attention and discussion within the industry. After trying and comparing the two products, observers found that there did appear to be signs of imitation. The other brand has now begun modifying the allegedly copied product, while KMOSE stated that the entire exterior design was its own original work.

A week later, on August 15, KMOSE announced that its Chinese name would be changed to “刻米,” replacing its previous Chinese name, “氪墨.”

KMOSE CEO and co-founder Liu Haonan said that the name change was not influenced by the copying incident.

According to him, KMOSE had already begun work on this brand upgrade strategy and name change back in May.

“Changing from 氪墨 to 刻米 will give the brand stronger recognition and make it easier to communicate the brand’s value,” Liu Haonan said. “From the very beginning, the KMOSE brand has aimed to redefine products and the market, and to build a mainstream cigarette-alternative brand. The character 米 conveys the brand concept more effectively.”

The copying incident in early August and the mid-August name change also made KMOSE one of the brands that has attracted considerable market attention since April.

In addition to its frequent brand initiatives, KMOSE also has its own distinctive approach to distribution. Its in-house channel team has continuously expanded key account channels and retail terminal channels.

Unlike traditional e-cigarette companies, which focus on agent channels and wholesale volume, KMOSE emphasizes the importance of offline channels while also building its own channel team, relying on the company’s internal driving force to support channel maintenance and expansion.

As of now, KMOSE has entered eight well-known domestic convenience store chains in China, including exclusive key account partnerships, covering more than 4,000 retail points.

Under its “penetrate one point at a time” channel strategy, KMOSE uses regional management, carrying out channel relationship-building and brand activities simultaneously to achieve refined regional operations and ultimately full-channel coverage within a city.

Liu Haonan said that Xiamen in Fujian has already become a model city for KMOSE.

“When we visited the Xiamen market last week, we found that KMOSE K1 was visible everywhere and easy to buy anywhere. If a user couldn’t find stock in one convenience store, the clerk would say they could buy it at the milk tea shop next door. And if it still wasn’t available there, just around the corner they could get it at the next coffee shop,” Liu Haonan said.

KMOSE recently also announced that its disposable e-cigarette K1 series generated 3 million yuan in revenue in its first month on the market, while its main pod-based product line will be launched soon.

The completion of this angel financing round means that KMOSE has officially entered the long-distance race of e-cigarette competition, joining at least 30 other funded brands in jointly exploring the Chinese e-cigarette market.