Vaping Brand Wonton, Founded by Former Apple China Executive, Raises Tens of Millions in Angel Fundi

Recently, Guangzhou Wonton Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. announced the completion of several tens of millions in angel funding, led by Original Capital and followed by Haofang Venture Capital.

Wonton (WONTON) was founded in early 2019, focusing on e-cigarettes, with a founding team from companies like Apple, Johnson & Johnson, Tencent, Cedar Holdings, and Leksin Medical.

Founder Huang Yu worked at Apple for nearly ten years, serving as the Southern China Director and Operations Director for Apple's Greater China Corporate Division. In 2015, he joined Leksin as Chief Operating Officer, during which Leksin's smart wearable sales ranked second (first being Xiaomi, third Apple), and it jumped to fifth in global smart wearable sales within a year, successfully IPOing in November 2016 on the Growth Enterprise Market.

Regarding why he chose the e-cigarette sector, Huang Yu mentioned two reasons: first, traditional tobacco may be partially replaced by healthier new product forms like e-cigarettes due to health hazards and environmental conflicts; second, the likelihood of smokers completely quitting nicotine is as low as consumers completely giving up tea and coffee. It is well-known that nicotine and caffeine are harmful to the cardiovascular system and addictive, but why is it hard to quit? Because it relates to human needs rather than health knowledge. For smokers who cannot quit nicotine, the significant value of e-cigarettes compared to traditional cigarettes is that they minimize the harm of harmful substances other than nicotine to the body.

When asked about the increasingly fierce competition in China's e-cigarette industry, Huang Yu admitted that when he started preparing for Wonton at the end of last year, there were only a few startups like Shanlan and RELX, but he did not expect a flood of entrepreneurs entering the industry in 2019, including Luo Yonghao from Smartisan. The reason so many entrepreneurs are entering is not only because they see business opportunities but also because some may think e-cigarettes have "no barriers" and are easy to succeed. In fact, businesses with "no barriers" are the hardest to operate, and entrepreneurs should maintain a sufficient sense of respect.

Regarding whether Wonton's timing of entry is too late, Huang Yu expressed cautious optimism. As someone with nearly twenty years of experience in fast-moving consumer goods, 3C digital, and smart health hardware, having witnessed many brands rise and fall, he feels relatively confident and is willing to plan and implement related strategies more long-term and practically.

According to Huang Yu, Wonton will soon launch two types of products: a refillable vape and a disposable vape. In the future, the brand company will continue to focus on three directions: first, ensuring that products meet food-grade safety standards, making "Wonton" a true representation; second, through innovations and breakthroughs in atomization technology, e-liquid quality and formulation, battery smart control technology, and product ID design, allowing consumers to truly experience the charm of vaping; third, creating conditions to promote the brand "Wonton" with Chinese elements to the global market.

Original Capital's founding partner Fang Yuan stated that e-cigarettes are an irreversible trend in the tobacco consumption market. Currently, the entire e-cigarette market is still in a very early stage, and the future will be a competition of products, brands, and channels. We are optimistic about Wonton's team's dedication to products and brands and their rich channel resources; they will be a "dark horse" leading the upgrade and innovation of e-cigarette products and the healthy development of the market.

Haofang Venture Capital's founding partner Li Bin stated that Haofang Venture Capital has always focused on early investments in the consumer electronics industry, having previously invested in star projects like Nut and Cat King. They have been paying attention to the e-cigarette sector for a long time and have conducted in-depth research, being very optimistic about the future potential of the entire industry. For early-stage investments, our consistent view is to seek the best teams, and we are fortunate to partner with an experienced entrepreneur like Huang, recognizing his accumulated experience in product, channel, and brand operations at Apple and Leksin. Besides funding, we will also leverage Haofang Group's quality overseas channels to provide more support for Wonton, looking forward to Wonton's first product being a big success.

Wonton's financial advisor, Langchao Capital, stated that founder Huang Yu has over ten years of management experience in consumer electronics at Apple China and Leksin Medical. This significant angel funding reflects the confidence of capital parties in Wonton's team's comprehensive strength in product, supply chain, marketing, and channels. As the exclusive financial advisor for this round, Langchao Capital will continue to support Wonton's growth in the capital market and will keep an eye on consumption upgrade opportunities for new demographics and products.