Most investors would run from nicotine.
It’s taboo, messy, and hard to underwrite. Many funds are literally barred from touching it (no-vice clauses passed down from LPs at faith-based endowments prohibit bets on anything adjacent to drugs, alcohol, or addiction). Add “consumer,” “health,” and “Gen Z” to the mix, and the category starts to feel radioactive. But in 2022, we met two founders who weren’t just building a quit aid — they were rebuilding the entire emotional architecture of addiction, and we leaned in.
Caroline Huber and Hilary Dubin were friends before they were cofounders. They were also addicted to nicotine. Both had tried to quit. Both had failed. But they didn’t fail quietly. They noticed the cracks.
For Hilary, it started on Mammoth Mountain. She found a lost JUUL in the snow, pocketed it, and took a puff later that night. What began as a party accessory quickly became a work stimulant, and then a dependency.
Why was it so easy to relapse? Why did every product on the market feel condescending, clinical, or cold? Why did the process feel designed for abstinence, not accountability?
They weren’t just looking for a better NRT. They were reimagining what it means to quit.
Behavior Is the Product
Jones is a tapering program disguised as a consumer brand (and that’s exactly the point). The startup pairs specially formulated nicotine mints with SMS coaching, an app for peer accountability, and language that reframes cessation not as success or failure, but as progress and control.
This isn’t “stop now.” It’s “quit on your terms.” And for Gen Z, that makes all the difference.
Where legacy NRT sees relapse as failure, Jones sees it as feedback. Where most products sell discipline, Jones sells design: a habit loop that mirrors real behavior change, not idealized endpoints. The insight is simple but overlooked—addiction isn’t linear, and shame doesn’t scale.
The founders call it a wellness company — we saw something even bigger: behavior change with margin.
The Anti-Vape Brand That Feels Human
Before Jones, Caroline cofounded the Bluegrass Voters Coalition, a statewide political organizing initiative built around grassroots participation. Hilary led product at Atlassian and built a sleepwear startup during the pandemic. They didn’t come from healthtech, but they knew the customer deeply, because they were the customer.
When Hilary finally committed to quitting, she emptied every coat pocket, rewired her routines, and used NRT mints to manage cravings. But what made it stick wasn’t just the mints. It was her environment, her triggers, her relationships. The emotional scaffolding of the habit had to be rebuilt.
That experience became the blueprint for Jones. When early users reported similar cravings for structure and support, the team moved fast, transitioning from just mints and texts to a full-stack app with peer groups, social check-ins, and progress tracking.
“We thought SMS coaching paired with mints would be enough,” Hilary told us. “But when retention dipped, user feedback made it clear: they wanted community. So we built an app with social features and peer accountability.”
Tech loves to talk about community. But it’s very clear when it’s real, and when it isn’t. Caroline had built community in the real world — organizing voters, not just users. That experience shows up in Jones. This isn’t “community” as a feature. It’s community as accountability, designed for people, not metrics. Jones didn’t just add a Discord server or a leaderboard. They built something users asked for by name and then showed up every day to keep it human.
Helping someone quit nicotine isn’t just a wellness win. It’s a public good.
One TikTok explainer went viral with 14M+ views. Thousands of users poured in. And the DMs started to stack up:
“We started getting daily DMs from users saying, ‘This is amazing, I actually feel supported.’” — Caroline
Jones doesn’t just help people quit. It gives them language for what they’re going through. That’s what builds community. That’s what makes it stick.
What We Saw Early
When we met Caroline and Hilary, they were fresh out of NYU’s Launchpad accelerator. They hadn’t closed their pre-seed round yet. But we saw signs others would miss.
They had been friends since they were eight, an unusually time-tested bond that showed up in every part of how they worked: fast decisions, deep trust, and total alignment.
Our diligence unearthed:
- A consumer wedge in a category dominated by incumbents and institutions
- A 9.8 NPS from early users
- 120% MoM growth
- A market thesis rooted in lived experience, not white papers
This wasn’t just founder-market fit. This was founder-as-market. We wrote a check.
In 2025, Caroline and Hilary ran one of the tightest, most efficient raise processes we’ve seen at the early stage: clear materials, clear targets, and conviction that drew in top-tier interest fast. DRF stayed close through the sprint, offering support as they scaled their ambition.
The process culminated in a Series A led by Foundry. Since then, Jones has evolved from a tapering tool into a behavior-first platform. Their ambition is bigger than cessation — it’s a rebrand of shame itself.
Addiction, Reframed
Jones is a reminder that addiction isn’t black and white — and quitting doesn’t have to be either. Some users go nicotine-free. Others taper on their own timelines. All of them are supported.
As Hilary put it: “I am a proud quitter. I haven’t purchased a vape or cigarettes in years and it feels like a huge, liberating feat. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t touched a vape since I quit… The world of dependency isn’t black and white.”
Each mint is a choice, each message a reset, each user writing their own definition of success. That’s what we backed.
And if you’re the kind of person who likes seeing around corners — whether you’re an investor or a student curious about venture — Jones is exactly the kind of company we want you thinking about.
Apply to Fund What Comes Next
Backing outliers early is what we do. Want in?
We’re now accepting applications for two things:
Student Investors: Apply to join Dorm Room Fund’s investment team.
- East Coast / Midwest: due September 11
- West Coast: due September 25
Founders: Apply for funding.
Whether you’re backing or building, we want to hear from you.
Written by Aaron Anandji, Head of Editorial and Madi Jacox, Principal