Lio is a young Dutch brand replacing the cigarette ritual with a wooden one. 150,000+ customers, no VC, no PR agency. Everything you need is on this page — and if it isn't, the founder picks up his own email.
One human, one inbox, one phone number. We respond within 24h on weekdays.
A selection of pull-quotes from coverage we've earned without a single retainer paid to a publicist.
"Lio is the first product in the cessation category that's honest about what it isn't. It's not a cure. It's a beautifully made wooden tube, and that turns out to be enough."
"The behavioural insight at the centre of Lio — that smoking is 80% gesture, 20% chemistry — is the kind of obvious idea that took someone twenty-three years old to actually do something with."
"A Dutch DTC brand that's done something the entire vape industry couldn't: made the alternative feel better than the original."
"Mees van Lier responded to our scrutiny by rewriting his entire website. That, frankly, is rare in this category."
"You miss the ritual, not the nicotine — and Lio has built a whole company around finally taking that distinction seriously."
"It's the antithesis of the nicotine pouch boom. Where pouches whisper about hidden use, Lio is designed to be seen — a piece of olive or walnut wood you'd happily set on a restaurant table next to your espresso. The category needed this."
"A profitable, founder-owned business in a category dominated by tobacco-money-adjacent VCs. Worth watching."
Last 18 months. Most recent first.
Logos, product imagery, founder portraits, the fact sheet, b-roll. Free to use with attribution. No permission needed for editorial use.
SVG + PNG. Light, dark, and monochrome variants. Wordmark and leaf-only icon.
Lio Plus + Lio Pro in olive and walnut. White, lifestyle, in-hand. All 4K.
Mees van Lier headshots, environmental, and in-context (Bali studio, NL warehouse).
Forest / mint / chalk palette, Sofia Pro type system, voice principles, and "what we don't say".
Founded, customers shipped, headcount, markets, regulatory position. One page.
30s and 60s edits. Plus raw clips of the device, cores, and Amsterdam street reactions.
The version of the company that fits on one screen. Updated quarterly.
No agency in the middle. No "please CC marketing." If you need a quote, a stat, a product to test, or an interview slot — message the founder. He'll reply.
Founder & CEO · Lio