Billion-Dollar Pouches, K-Beauty Moves & Gas Station M&A

🟢 Zyn’s Inventor Is Back

Thomas Ericsson, the mind behind Zyn, now a ~$2 billion nicotine-pouch juggernaut for Philip Morris, is back with a new venture: Sesh+.

The company just raised $40 million+ (led by 8VC and Troy Link of Jack Link’s) to scale its tobacco-free pouch brand.

The Playbook:

• A pH-balanced formulation using MCT oil for smoother mouthfeel.

• Already in 5,000+ doors (Buc-ee’s, Circle K, Pilot, Sheetz).

• 72 SKUs accepted into the FDA PMTA review — a real regulatory moat.

• Claimed 5,000 % YoY growth with ~30 employees.

💡 Why it matters:
Zyn transformed from Swedish niche to global mainstream, driving PMI’s stock higher. If Sesh+ captures even 10 % of that market, it’s a billion-dollar play.

💄 KKR’s $528 M Bet on the “Picks & Shovels” of K-Beauty

Rather than betting on the next viral brand, KKR is buying the infrastructure behind them, acquiring Samhwa, a South Korean cosmetics-packaging manufacturer, for $528 million.

Why it matters:

• Supplies 300 + brands including luxury houses.

• Specializes in airless pumps, cushion compacts, precision dispensers.

• End-to-end capabilities from design → inspection → delivery.

🧠 Deal Context: TPG bought Samhwa for $216 million in 2023 and flipped it a year later after upgrading operations and repositioning the business from commodity packaging to precision engineering.

Takeaway: Owning the supply chain beats guessing the trend. KKR gets a strategic asset powering hundreds of brands, a clear “picks and shovels” play on the $100B beauty market.

🥪 RaceTrac Buys Potbelly for $566 M

You read that right, a gas station chain just bought a sandwich brand.

RaceTrac is acquiring Potbelly for $566 million all cash (a 47% premium to its stock price).

Why it matters:

• Potbelly brings ~445 stores with plans to reach 2,000 +.

• RaceTrac adds a fresh, higher-margin foodservice arm to its convenience ecosystem.

• Blurring lines between retail and restaurants, turning c-stores into multi-format consumer hubs.

Gas station chains are quietly morphing into food brands, a trend that might reshape the next wave of QSR competition.

🎙 Podcast Highlight: Cam Mehr on Building an Eight-Figure Brand Without Raising a Dime

This week, I sat down with Cam Mehr, Founder of Vital Plus, one of the fastest-growing brands in the cold-plunge category, and a masterclass in capital efficiency.

We cover:
⚙️ How to “engineer the P&L” and turn operational discipline into alpha.
📊 Why most reporting is a low-value distraction.
🤖 Why AI literacy is now mandatory for every hire.
🌍 How to scale across four continents with a team of five.
💬 What Australian founders get right about expanding to the U.S.

Cam’s story is a reminder that the future belongs to small, sharp, cash-efficient operators who understand every lever in their business.

🎧 Watch on YouTube, listen on Spotify.

That’s it for this week.
If you liked this issue, forward to a friend who obsesses over brand strategy, capital flows, or exit timing.

In the Money – following the flow of capital in consumer

P.S. We love talking to brands interested in exiting in the next 3-18 months. If you know of any brands interested in exiting, or any firms trying to help port cos manage turnarounds, we'd love to share a POV.

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