The investment, which was made known via a regulatory filing last week, indicates that despite all the negative press that Juul is receiving, the company is still going strong. Earlier this month, Juul Labs opened its first store in Toronto’s west-end, marking the manufacturer’s first brick-and-mortar location in North America, and as in most countries, Juul has emerged to be Canada’s leading vaping brand.

Juul accused of fuelling US teen vaping “epidemic”

Juul Labs has opened its first store in Toronto’s west-end, marking the manufacturer’s first brick-and-mortar location in North America.

Meanwhile, during a two-part hearing which took place last month in the US, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Economic and Consumer Policy, said it will be examining Juul’s marketing and health claims. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., said that the aim is to understand what makes Juul “so attractive to teens.”

“In fact, I’ve had one in my hand during this entire statement,” said Krishnamoorthi pointing to a Juul device. “It is my sincere hope that our hearings today and tomorrow will help us better understand Juul’s role in this terrible epidemic and point us toward solutions to prevent teen vaping addiction,” he added.

In response to these claims, a Juul spokesman said that the company shares the committee’s “concerns about youth vaping and welcomes the opportunity to appear and share information about our commitment to eliminate combustible cigarettes and our aggressive, industry leading actions to combat youth usage.”

Juul donates $3 Million to Coalition Fighting SF E-Cig Ban

Moreover also last month, Juul Labs donated $3 million to the Coalition for Reasonable Vaping Regulation. The organization was established in May to combat the first-of-its-kind total e-cig sales ban implemented in San Francisco. Last week, the coalition reported the latest infusion in a filing to the San Francisco Ethics Commission, bringing Juul’s total contributions for the year up to $4.5 million. The coalition’s communications director, Nate Allbee, told Forbes that the money will be funding a traditional campaign which will include advertisements and canvassing.

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