January in Brooklyn has a way of sharpening the edges. Cold air. Clear heads. And a quiet understanding that if you are building something real, excuses freeze before momentum does. That is the...
January in Brooklyn has a way of sharpening the edges. Cold air. Clear heads. And a quiet understanding that if you are building something real, excuses freeze before momentum does. That is the backdrop where Ultra just closed an $11M Series A and the timing feels less like luck and more like pressure meeting preparation.
Ultra was founded in May 2025 by Eric Drymer, a founder who knows what it is like to chase focus and then question the cost of it. After building Studyverse and raising $2M pre-seed, Eric Drymer went looking for the cognitive upside people whisper about in nicotine research, then backed away when addiction and long-term health risk showed up uninvited. Ultra is the result of that tension. A nicotine-free, caffeine-free oral pouch built for people who need their mind sharp without their nervous system paying interest.
The product is clean and intentional. Six clinically researched nootropic ingredients. Enfinity Paraxanthine instead of caffeine. Alpha GPC for fast onset. L Theanine to keep the edges smooth. Ginseng and B vitamins to support the long game. One pouch delivers 1-2 hours of sustained focus, discreetly, without jitters or crashes. Ultra is not selling stimulation. Ultra is selling composure.
The traction landed loud. 1M cans sold in the first six months. Direct to consumer only. No retail safety net. About 30% of customers had never touched nicotine before, which tells you this is not a step down story. It is a step sideways into a new habit. Washington Capitals players noticed. Founders noticed. So did Left Lane Capital, which led the round alongside Sugar Capital, with Joe Burrow, Dak Prescott, and Lindsey Vonn investing personal conviction, not just capital.
Eric Drymer is joined by Ryan Lee as COO, bringing operational discipline to a brand already moving fast, with Chris Lucas keeping the internal machine tight and Alex Olander shaping creator partnerships that feel earned instead of loud. The team is small, focused, and building like people who know retail is coming whether they are ready or not.
Ultra is playing a patient word game with the pouch category. Same ritual. Different promise. No nicotine. No caffeine. No apology. In a market trained on quick hits, Ultra is betting that clarity scales better than chaos. And with $11M now behind that bet, the next chapter is less about awareness and more about execution. The kind that does not need to shout to be heard.