Author：Butao Wang Jul 17, 2019 09:35 AM (GMT+8)

MOTI, a runner-up of e-cigarette sales in China, completed its Series A round of financing with USD 31 million. MSA Capital led this round of investment. 

Image credit: MOTIofficial WeChat account

The e-cigarette market is gaining momentum in China these days. 

When we look into the venture capitals’ appetite for e-cigarette, the transaction deals surged to 28 investment cases to date, from four cases in last year.

According to Landong Consumption, the e-cigarette company MOTI (魔笛) completed its Series A round of financing with USD 31 million on July 17, 2019.

MSA Capital, a venture capital firm that has invested Meituan Dianping, NIO, Uber and BOSS, led this round of investment. 

We saw no sign of MOTI's official announcement yet.

MOTI generates monthly revenue for more than tens of millions of dollars, making it the second-largest brand in China, Landong reported. The current largest brand RELX, reported a new injection close yesterday. In the first quarter of 2019, MOTI posted CNY 140 million revenue and CNY 10 million net profit.

The Chinese e-cigarette company earned its first pot of gold abroad. Its overseas market makes fourfold revenue than the domestic market.

E-cigarette and Heat-not-Burn (HnB) tobacco represent two main categories in the new tobacco sector. According to Tianfeng Securities, global sales of new tobacco reached USD 27.74 billion in 2018, with a sustained growth of 60.6% year-on-year. New tobacco market size is estimated to increase to USD 37 billion in 2019 globally.

Though in China, the tobacco industry is protected by the tobacco exclusive agency law (烟草专卖法) introduced and enforced by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration as a monopoly industry, it is promising considering both 350 million smoking population and an increasing number of young consumers.