Tag: Aspire

Aspire Group to Launch ANYX Vape Brand in June
ANYX, a new vape brand powered by the Aspire Group, has announced it will release its first pod system e-cigarette globally on June 16, 2022.
“Despite being a new brand in the market, ANYX is backed by years of experience and industry expertise. In addition to well-known technical experts in the e-cigarette industry, ANYX has built up a team of talents who previously worked for top companies in the sectors of internet, consumer electronics, and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) , allowing it to secure tens of millions of dollars in funding at its inception,” a press release states.
ANYX has accrued more than 1,500 industry patents and established 120 production lines covering three dedicated production bases. It also boasts a strong R&D team of over 120 engineers, advanced production, sales and digital marketing capabilities, according to the release.
As vaping technology grows in popularity, more people are looking for products that offer enjoyment and sensory pleasure. In line with its mission to create products with social features and build a user-driven brand, ANYX hopes to use its products to strengthen the bonds amongst global vaping enthusiasts and promote communication for a more diverse, pleasant, on-trend and energizing experience.
May 29, 2022
Aspire Global Withdraws NYSE Listing Application
Shenzhen-based Aspire Global has applied to U.S. regulators to withdraw its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listing application. The move comes as Beijing clamps down on the growth of vaping companies, mandating pre-approval for IPOs and restricting foreign investment.
The company filed a withdrawal request to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, without providing a reason for the decision in its filing, according to the South China Morning Post. It had originally planned to sell 15 million shares at $7 to $9 each, and had applied to trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker “ASPG.”
Aspire kicked off its Nasdaq listing application last June, and updated its draft prospectus in January this year. The company was expected to raise $135 million. Its withdrawal comes as recent rules introduced in China make expansion and distribution more challenging for e-cigarette manufacturers.
Other rules introduced last month include a ban on foreign investors in a sector that once attracted venture capital giants such as Sequoia Capital and IDG. Manufacturers and retailers must also get a license before they can produce and market their products. The government banned online advertising in late 2019, and sales in shops are restricted.
Over half of Aspire Global’s sales in 2021 were generated from Europe, with China and the U.S. accounting for 18.5 percent and 10 percent respectively, according to the company’s draft prospectus. In the U.S., Aspire has been marketing its cannabis vaping product, Ispire, since late 2020. “Our strategy is … directed at increasing our e-cigarette vaporizer technology products and developing our cannabis vaporizer technology products,” the company stated in its draft prospectus.
May 10, 2022
China-based Aspire Sets Terms for $120 Million U.S. IPO
The Chinese vaping company Aspire Global announced terms for its U.S. IPO on Friday. The company plans to raise $120 million by offering 15 million shares at a price range of $7 to $9. At the midpoint of the proposed range, the Shenzhen company would command a market value of $1.3 billion.
“Aspire is a vertically integrated provider of e-cigarette vaporizing technology. Its tobacco vaping products are sold through a distribution network of more than 150 distributors in 30 countries,” according to a release. “In December 2020, the company also commenced the marketing of cannabis vaping technology products in the US.”
Aspire Global was founded in 2010 and earned $82 million in sales for the 12 months ended December 31, 2020, according to its prospectus. It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol ASPG. Tiger Brokers, EF Hutton, TF International, and China Merchants Securities are the joint bookrunners on the deal.
Aspire Global would be the second Chinese vaping company to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Unlike RLX Technology, that recently had a class action filed against for its stock tanking after China announc3ed it would regulate vaping products like traditional cigarettes, Aspire sells most of its products outside the Chinese market.
July 18, 2021
Aspire Introduces Ispire Brand for Cannabis Vaping

Credit: Ispire
Aspire officially announced the launch of its flagship cannabis brand, Ispire. Ispire offers a full range of vaping devices available exclusively through OEM and ODM strategic partnerships, according to a press release.
Ispire’s main product line, Ducore, features a patented dual ceramic coil delivery system with adjustable airflow along with several other innovative technologies. “These technological advances will reshape the way the user experiences cannabis,” the release states. “Innovations in how a consumer interacts with cannabis has been limited in recent years, and we are leading the industry innovative products that allow consumers to control their own experiences and enjoy their cannabis to the full extent.”
The cannabis industry has historically provided consumers with limited options concerning vaping hardware. All hardware on the market is similar in nature, according to the release. “They all have limitations on the amount of airflow and temperature control,” said Aspire North America CEO Michael Wang. “We created the world’s first dual coil technology, so our products provide the maximum amount of smoke, allowing customers to adjust the air flow to find the air stream that best suits their taste, ensuring a smoother, better taste, that does not burn the throat.”
July 28, 2020
Changing Vapor
The president and founder of Aspire, Tony Lau, has been making vapor safer for more than a decade.
By Timothy S. Donahue
Tony Lau has helped transform an industry. Today, his designs are used by nearly every vapor industry manufacturer in Shenzhen, China, the vapor hardware manufacturing capital of the world. Lau, president of Shenzen Eigate Technology Co., better known as Aspire, has been producing and improving vapor products since early 2007.
Before getting into the vapor industry, Lau was working for companies like Remington and building hair care products. He learned how factories were run and how to create proper quality-control (QC) protocols. In 2007, Lau began his vapor career with KangerTech, long considered to be one of the oldest hardware manufacturers, as one of KangerTech’s four original owners. At KangerTech, he brought his expertise in QC, R&D and production to the new industry. Speaking to Vapor Voice through a translator during a recent visit to Shenzhen, Lau says he saw the e-cigarette industry as a way to help people quit smoking and start using nicotine in a safer format.
During the early years, Lau was producing batteries for some of the first e-cigarettes on the market. He began to confront then-industrywide issues like leakage and spitback and wanted to try to do things his own way. In 2010, Lau left KangerTech to open his own company, Eigate. The company was finding early success and was growing quickly. In 2013, Eigate started its own brand, Aspire, according to Lau. At Aspire, Lau is in charge of QC and R&D. His nephew Allen Lau oversees sales, marketing and production. “This is so I can focus on R&D and QC,” says Tony Lau.
In 2015, Aspire had more than 600 employees and about 6,000 square meters of factory and office space. Today, the company employs over 1,000 people and has 15,000 square meters of factory, office and lab space that is good manufacturing practice (GMP) and ISO 9001 certified. “None of this has been accomplished by chance. Aspire has a professional product R&D team as well as a strict quality-control system to ensure [the] best in product quality, and we are not doing it alone. Aspire constantly works with overseas designers and researchers to develop new products that bring users the best and most healthy alternatives to tobacco,” says Lau.
Aspire has put continuous effort into establishing close and stable relationships with its distributors by promoting mutual cooperation. With the help of its distributors, Aspire has created service centers worldwide to provide customers with quick and efficient support, according to Lau. “With the efforts and creativity of the Aspire team, we have quickly become one of the leading brands in the vaping industry,” he says.
In the beginning, Lau was creating devices but didn’t understand how the hardware was interacting with the user, so he started vaping. He then began to realize that he needed to understand the transition from smoking to vaping and started smoking cigarettes to experience the difference firsthand. “I needed to understand customer feedback—airflow and flavor. It was the only way to know,” he says. “It’s not good for my health, but it has been good for many other people’s health. I hope what we are doing is making people healthier than [when they are] smoking cigarettes.”
When Lau began building the Aspire brand, his goal was to produce high-quality products that lasted for a long time. Today, Lau holds more than 1,000 patents around the world, most of them for designs in tank technology. “Now, almost all factories use technology that I created. We have patents in the U.S., Europe and China,” he says, adding that many people ask him why he doesn’t sue over other companies using his designs. “Because vapor is a new industry, and I want more people to come into the industry to help build better businesses,” he says. “The industry needs competition in order to have growth and longevity.”
One of the first products Lau created that changed the market was the CE4 tank with KangerTech. The CE4 was the first clear cartomizer (clearomizer) that gave consumers the ability to see how much liquid was left in the tank. “This was an important innovation,” says Lau. “It allowed consumers to save money by knowing when a tank was actually finished.”
The second generation of the CE4 allowed consumers to refill the tank. This was another industry first at the time. Sales exploded. The customer feedback started pouring in, says Lau. Now consumers were asking for variable voltage and wanted to be able to change the coil instead of just throwing away tanks when the coil was no longer producing the proper flavor. Lau started Eigate and Aspire to meet this demand, eventually creating the Nautilus, which was the first tank with a changeable coil.
Aspire’s Nautilus series along with the BVC coils changed the way vapers vaped by allowing adjustable airflow for the first time. Even today, the Nautilus tank and Nautilus mini tank continue to be very popular among vapers worldwide. “Now all tanks use this technology,” says Lau. “A company may change the appearance, material or shape, but the technology is the same.”
The vapor industry was starting to explode in 2014. That was the year that rebuildable dripping atomizers (RDA) became all the rage. The RDA could create some very big clouds. Lau refused to make an RDA tank. He knew there had to be a better way than rebuilding coils to get high vapor production. In 2014, Aspire rocked the vapor world again with the launch of the first device dedicated to sub-ohm vaping, the Atlantis series.
“With an RDA, users would have to fill the liquid many times, yet with Atlantis they could get more life from their juice, and it didn’t leak like most RDA tanks,” he says. “The Atlantis is much easier to change the coil—just replace not rebuild. The Atlantis tank helped spur the surge in e-liquid manufacturers because it made vaping easier.”
Lau wasn’t done changing the industry just yet. In 2016, the company launched Cleito tanks, which are refilled using the top fill design and use a revolutionary new coil design that frees up even more restriction in the airflow by eliminating the need for a static chimney within the tank itself. “The Cleito tanks have made vaping so much easier with [their] simplicity of design and high performance,” says Lau.
Then, in late 2017, Aspire and Lau released the revolutionary Revvo tank with the Aspire Radial Coil (ARC). The flat stovetop-like design provided an expanded flavor profile and increased vapor production. “This was another industry-changing design,” says Lau.
Now the industry is changing again. Sales for the “big vape” devices are plummeting, and consumers want the Juul-style pod systems, according to Lau. The marijuana, THC and cannabidiol (CBD) markets are starting to skyrocket as well. “We are now making the devices for this new THC/CBD industry. We are working on making the best devices for this industry and could be done as early as mid-July,” says Lau. “People may not realize that these different devices need different technology. The different oils have a different thickness and viscosity. For the consumer, taste is the most important thing, and you must make products that enhance the flavor of the oils.”
For a vapor company to be successful, Lau says that first and foremost it must produce high-quality products and test products for quality throughout the whole production process. Companies must also remember that battery cell life is vital to how long a piece of hardware will last. Therefore, Lau opened his own battery production facility.
“The best way to guarantee high-quality batteries is to produce them yourself, so that is what we did. In hardware, the customer experience is about the flavor; the second thing is the airflow; third is no leakage or spitback; and lastly, the product must have a long lifespan,” says Lau. “Aspire listens to its customers, and we want to bring consumers the cutting-edge products they want as well as provide outstanding service. That’s how we ‘Aspire’ to do business every day.”

Timothy S. Donahue
June 25, 2019
Certified Concern
Chinese manufacturers say UL certification proves that their vapor hardware is safe.
By Timothy S. Donahue
It’s a positive for the vapor industry. However, it’s also meaningless in the U.S., the world’s largest vapor market. Numerous vapor hardware manufacturers have produced Underwriters Laboratory (UL)-certified devices, but under current regulatory guidelines in the U.S., the safer products are often not allowed to be marketed. The exception to the rule is if the certified device had been marketed before Aug. 8, 2016, the cutoff date for new vapor products set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Several major Chinese manufacturers, including Aspire, Innokin, Joyetech, KangerTech, SmokTech and Vaporesso, have or will soon have UL-certified devices that were on the market before the FDA deadline; however, the hardware was certified after the deadline, and manufacturers have shied away from adding the UL logo because that could be construed by the FDA as altering the device. While the EU has allowed vapor products to innovate, the FDA has not permitted any new devices to be marketed in the U.S. since the Aug. 8, 2016, cutoff date. Vapor Voice recently visited with some of China’s leading vapor manufacturers in Shenzhen to discuss their efforts to get UL certified.
Joyetech has been an innovator in adopting UL standards. It was the first organization to receive a UL 8139 certification for its eGo AIO device, according to UL. Joshua Church, chief compliance officer of Joyetech, said that the UL standards are an important element to quality standards in the vapor industry. “UL compliance isn’t easy. It has taken a lot of time, money and effort to push products through the certification process,” he says. “Joyetech has been a leader in helping create and confirm these guidelines. Joyetech has its own ISO-certified labs and reinvests 50 percent of its profits back into R&D. Joyetech has its own UL-certified testing lab (or witness test data lab).”
Through UL’s witness test data program, tests may be conducted at customer or third-party test facilities under the supervision of UL personnel. Currently, Joyetech is the only manufacturer in China other than UL with a witness test lab. SmokTech’s lab, however, is nearly complete.
Welfer Ou, CEO of SmokTech, says his company’s products are used by more than 80 million vapers around the world, and choosing to get products UL certified was just a way to show customers that SmokTech is dedicated to making industry-changing innovations under the highest standards of safety and quality.
“We had our Novo pod system UL certified very quickly after the UL guidelines were confirmed,” says Ou. “We have spent a lot of time and money in equipment to be able to complete the required testing under UL standards. The FDA has stated that a PMTA [premarket tobacco product application] recommendation could involve UL 8139 certification, and we are working on having all of our models receive UL certification.”
George Xia, co-founder and vice president of Innokin, says consumer safety and producing quality products are a part of Innokin’s ethos. However, the vapor market is changing very fast, and competition is getting fiercer. Xia says he sees having devices UL certified as a way for a company to set itself above the competition.
“The Kroma-A and Zenith kit were the world’s first variable output mod certified UL 8139,” says Xia. “It is one of the best-selling mods internationally. We have been paving our own trail in R&D, and Innokin will continue to work closely with UL on the certification of existing and future devices. We are committed to constantly improving our manufacturing and quality control [QC] standards that are already some of the best in the industry. Innokin devices are always focusing on safety and durability. It has become a part of our core culture, and our customers enjoy these qualities.”
A global safety consulting and certification company, UL collaborates with a diverse array of stakeholders to create standards that generate level playing fields to help develop new pathways for innovation. The organization’s UL 8139 guidelines evaluate the safety of the electrical, heating, battery and charging systems while also addressing fire safety concerns raised by North American fire officials. The new UL standard has been published with the acceptance of the American National Standard Institute and Canada Standards.
UL 8139 requirements include determining if lithium cells are operating within safety windows, assessing the battery management system for both regular use and likely misuse, and evaluating compatibility among interconnected systems. The UL 8139 requirements also consider wide environmental parameters and conditions, tests for reasonably expected mechanical stress in use/misuse and requires devices to direct venting away from the inhaler.
UL 8139 standards were written specifically for electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS) and are part of the larger UL 1642 standard that covers a wide array of lithium-ion products. To qualify for UL 8139, the battery cells must be internalized, meaning that the standard 18650 e-cigarette battery can never be certified or listed under the UL standard if it’s changeable or not inside a battery pack. However, it can receive a UL “Recognized Component Mark” or “RU.” This quality mark can be applied to components that are affiliated with a UL-listed product.
Currently, KangerTech does not have a UL-certified device. This will change soon, however, according to Danny Zhu, founder and chairman of KangerTech. “We are working on getting some of our products UL certified,” he says. “It isn’t about being first; it is about doing things the right way the first time. We are also now actively working on breakthrough technology that focuses on some common issues such as leakage. In a few months, KangerTech will have new products that will address the concerns of the consumer. This will improve the customer experience. That is most important to KangerTech. This technology will be applied to both open and closed systems and will, for the first time in the industry, combine the battery and cartomizer to make the system work better.”
Eve Wang, the director of sales and marketing for Vaporesso, said that UL is certifying e-cigarettes to enhance consumer safety, and that’s one of the same goals Vaporesso has. “At Vaporesso, we have a real drive to give people a vaping lifestyle that is not only safe but up to our high standards,” she says. “First and foremost, we built up a panel of experts to study and understand the requirements of the UL certification. Then, we had the team look at our existing product portfolio to ascertain that we definitely shared the same vision. Even with our early stage products, like the Tarot Nano, we had the same mindset. We sent out the device to UL for testing, and based on the feedback we received, we made small adjustments to obtain our certificate successfully. The Tarot Nano is one of our earliest and most popular devices, released in early 2016.”
Tony Lau, president of Aspire, says that battery quality is a major factor in achieving UL certification. In order to guarantee the quality of batteries in Aspire products, Lau opened his own battery factory. “Yes, we are continuing to put products through the UL 8139 certification process,” says Lau. “We will also send materials from our battery factory and other suppliers to a third-party testing facility to test the quality of materials and [see] if it meets our standards. The third-party is a global standards company. Every batch is tested for quality, size … if it is OK from a production standpoint. This is critical to maintaining high QC standards.”
Because the FDA doesn’t allow new vapor products on the market that have been introduced after its deadline, many companies are selling their improved products in other markets, such as Asia and Europe. Vaporesso states that the FDA’s rules don’t prevent the company from innovating. “We are constantly striving for new ways to bring safer, more advanced devices to the entire market, not just the U.S.,” said Wang. “So, by continuing to work closely with the FDA and making sure our premarket tobacco product application certificates are processed as smoothly as possible, we hope to be able to make all of our new innovations available for everyone as quickly as possible.”
Ou says that SmokTech’s quality control is internally controlled to maintain a high level of success. The company places a major focus on the R&D process, which needs to be strong and consistent from the single sample to mass production. “We want to be able to control the high quality expected in a Smok product,” he said. “Our biggest advantage is quality control. If the quality is bad, people can only trust you the first time. We want to be trusted repeatedly. We want to be a global brand, not just a Chinese brand.”
Wang adds that Smoore (Vaporesso’s parent company) is also putting its pod system, the Renova Zero, through the UL certification process, and more existing products with the UL certification will be released soon. “We will make UL certifications standard for our future products by making it our R&D standard,” she says.
Church said he couldn’t be more pleased with how Chinese manufacturers have embraced UL certification. “The UL standards are a way for a company to prove that their products meet a high level of safety and quality,” he says. “This isn’t just saying, ‘Oh, our products are safe.’ This is proving our products are safe.”

Timothy S. Donahue
June 25, 2019