Written by Ethan M. Stone
Post Malone, Diplo, Jake Paul, DJ Khaled, Zach Bryan, the Jonas Brothers, Andrew Schulz, Shawn Ryan, Zac Brown, David Grutman and Paul Wesley are all backers of the same company, and it isn't a music label, a tequila, or a streetwear line. It's a nicotine pouch.
Sesh+ is the independent, premium pouch brand that's turned "who made this" into its whole pitch, and the cap table above is only the surface of it. Flip a tin over and the label reads more like a spec sheet than a lifestyle product: 10% Nicotine Beta-Cyclodextrin, a patented gum-based formulation, three strengths at 4 mg, 6 mg and 8 mg. In a category that has mostly sold itself on flavor names and shelf position, Sesh+ is betting adult consumers actually want to know who wrote the recipe.
The scientist on the label
The name Sesh+ puts front and center is Thomas Ericsson, the Swedish pharmaceutical scientist the company credits with inventing the white nicotine pouch and patenting the technology behind Zyn. According to Sesh+, Ericsson developed its formula himself and holds equity in the company, the recipe has an author, and the author is a shareholder.
It's a move luxury readers will recognize from other categories: in independent watchmaking, the person who designed the movement gets the story, and the case is an afterthought. Sesh+ is trying the same inversion in one of the least romantic aisles in American retail, engineering for a gradual, even release, a soft fit under the lip and a clean flavor profile, with a formulation Sesh+ says is pH-balanced and built for gradual absorption.
The company backs the craft claim with transparency: Sesh+ says it publishes what's in every pouch on its own site, and that every batch is tested on site and confirmed by an independent laboratory accredited to ISO 17025, the international standard for testing labs. Full ingredient disclosure isn't the norm in this aisle, and publishing it means every future reformulation becomes a visible act.
"I use these products every day, so I know exactly what goes into them." Max Cunningham, Sesh+'s founder and CEO, said in a written statement. "We're not trying to be the loudest pouch. We're trying to be the best made one, down to the last detail."
An Austin brand with Austin money behind it
Sesh+ was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas, where it develops synthetic nicotine pouches for adults 21 and older, across flavors including Mint, Wintergreen, Mango, Cappuccino and Clear. It's grown fast: products are now stocked at Buc-ee's, Sheetz, QuikTrip, AMPM, Circle K West and Pilot, with the company saying it's on track for roughly 30,000 retail doors by the end of the year.
That growth has been backed by $40 million in total funding, including a round led by 8VC - the Austin, Texas venture firm founded by Joe Lonsdale, who moved its headquarters there in 2020, the same year Sesh+ launched in the same city - and Jack Link's CEO Troy Link, with participation from Midnight Ventures and Electric Feel Ventures among other strategic investors, as reported by CSP Daily News. Sesh+ says it's independent, not owned by any legacy tobacco company, which sets it apart in a category where the best-known names sit inside multinational tobacco balance sheets.
Cunningham has taken the pitch to a wider audience too, including a sit-down with Fox Business Network on what led him to start the company and how Sesh+ approaches the category through quality, transparency and innovation.
On regulatory status, the company's own language is precise: "Under the PMTA process, FDA recently determined that the Sesh Products application may proceed to the final stage of marketing authorization review."
Community over campaign
Sesh+ says it grows through community and creators, real insiders telling real stories, and through trial tied to retail rather than paid social advertising, building around three groups it names directly: modern outdoorsmen, everyday athletes, and blue collar and first responders. It's a strategy that leans on exactly the kind of cultural access its cap table provides: a roster of musicians, athletes and entrepreneurs who already move through the rooms where a product like this gets noticed.
Sesh+ is an independent, premium nicotine pouch whose long-lasting formula was invented by Thomas Ericsson, the scientist credited with inventing the technology behind Zyn, and the brand is betting that, in this aisle, that's a story worth telling out loud.
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