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Caroline Huber (Stern ‘23) and her childhood friend Hilary Dubin are the minds behind Quit With Jones, a science-backed, digital-first quit-smoking and vaping platform that’s already helped thousands of people begin their journeys toward nicotine freedom.
Their work sits at the intersection of behavioral science, community, and digital health — and it all started with a deep understanding of how hard it is to actually quit, plus a deep frustration with how broken the current solutions are.
As graduates of the NYU Summer Launchpad, Huber and Dubin didn't come into the program to build Quit With Jones. Instead, they began the accelerator wanting to build Cozier, a luxury consumer brand aimed at offering high-end comfort products. But the market proved far more niche than anticipated.
“We realized there just wasn’t a massive need for what we were building,” Huber told the audience at her NYU Female Founders Lunch on April 23, just weeks after closing a $10 million Series A round led by Foundry.
At the same time, both founders were struggling with something much more personal: a growing dependency on vaping to cope with the pressures of startup life.
“We were stressed, we were burning out, and we were vaping constantly to manage it,” Huber admitted. “But it became clear how unhealthy and unsustainable that was.”
The pair quickly realized that they were focusing on the wrong problem.
This shift led to the founding of Jones, with a mission to rethink nicotine cessation products for the modern consumer. Huber and Dubin knew firsthand how outdated the available nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) options felt and the shameful stigma surrounding quitting. Products like Nicorette had been on the market since the 1980s, with little change in design or tone.
The co-founders had tried traditional methods beforehand, but the stigma and poor user experience left them feeling discouraged. That experience became their blueprint: Jones would modernize NRT products with better design, elevated branding, and behavioral support that addressed the psychological and social realities of quitting.
“Our goal is to be the first place people turn when they want to quit or just reduce their nicotine use — without shame or judgment,” Huber said. “We’ve been through this journey ourselves. We know what it feels like.”
The company’s approach quickly gained momentum. In 2022, Jones won the 9th Annual NYU-Yale Summer Accelerator Pitchoff, validating the market opportunity and the founders’ bold pivot. But Huber emphasized that Jones was never just about winning pitch competitions. “The NRT products out there were built for smokers, not vapers,” she said. “They don’t resonate with the generation that now needs help.”
Unlike legacy solutions that focus solely on biochemical replacement, Jones offers a holistic program. In addition to reimagined lozenges and potential future products, the company is developing an app designed in collaboration with addiction experts and psychiatrists. The app tackles the behavioral, psychological, and social factors that drive nicotine use.
“We’re basing it on accountability, positive reinforcement, and building healthier habits,” Huber explained. “One of the biggest things we’ve heard from people is that quitting feels isolating when all your friends still vape. That’s why we’ve also built in social tools so people can quit together.”
Another major difference: Jones rejects the traditional “all-or-nothing” model of quitting. “If your journey means cutting down from daily use to only vaping on weekends, that’s still a win,” Huber said. “We want to give people the freedom to define success on their own terms.”
The urgency of the mission is clear. Studies increasingly show that vaping, while marketed as a safer alternative to smoking, carries risks of cardiovascular disease, lung problems, and mental health effects. But because the products are so new — Juul itself was only founded in 2015 — the long-term health impacts remain largely unknown.
“I think we’re going to see something similar to tobacco: it took decades for people to understand the full health consequences,” Huber said.
By combining product innovation, behavioral science, and empathy, Jones hopes to create not just a new NRT product, but an entirely new category of support for people seeking to take control of their nicotine use.
“You should feel proud of making a healthier choice,” Huber said. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed or stigmatized by it.”
With a powerful personal story, early traction, and a clear focus on solving a problem that deeply resonates with today’s young adults, Jones is poised to help redefine what quitting nicotine looks like in the modern era.
