Black Buffalo, a maker of smokeless tobacco products, announced that it has closed a $30 million Series A funding round led by The Pritzker Organization (TPO) and Listen Ventures. Watchfire Ventures, Vice Ventures and UTC Ventures provided additional help in raising the capital.

TPO managing director Jason Pritzker and Listen Ventures managing partner Jeff Cantalupo joined Black Buffalo's board of directors at closing.

Since its founding in 2015, Black Buffalo has invested tens of thousands of hours in research and development to create the industry's best smokeless tobacco alternatives, including long-cut and pouch varieties marketed specifically to adult consumers of nicotine or tobacco.

The company offers eight core products that contain pharmaceutical-grade tobacco-derived nicotine, but no tobacco leaves or stems, which remain the subject of the company's pending Bundled Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA) filed in time with the U.S. Department of Food. and the Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2020. The company has also developed a line of zero-brand nicotine-free, tobacco-free products.

Black Buffalo has experienced continued record growth, with its revenue growing approximately 10x since the start of 2020.

Jason Pritzker, Managing Director of TPO, said: "Black Buffalo's strategy and vision aligns perfectly with The Pritzker Organization's core competency of partnering with an exceptional management team to build a best-in-class business over the long term. We are excited to partner with Black Buffalo and continue to drive their rapid growth.

“We are delighted to have such a great investment partner at TPO and Listen Ventures,” said Mark Hanson, president and co-founder of Black Buffalo. "Black Buffalo's business is experiencing unprecedented growth as adult consumers continue to seek alternatives to nicotine and tobacco. We believe that TPO and Listen Ventures will provide much more than funding to accelerate all aspects of our business, including identifying sales , new key employees in marketing, manufacturing and finance.”

Founded in 2015, Black Buffalo is backed by more than 20,000 hours of research and development to create smokeless tobacco alternatives.