PHIL TRAN

Phil Tran joined Boomerang Ventures in November 2023 as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EiR) for HabitHalo, a company he founded.

Phil is an entrepreneur, vape researcher/expert, and ex-vaper. He came from venture capital, started or joined various start-ups, and studied Business, Analytics, and Vaping at Indiana University.

Phil was dependent on vaping for five years, tried various quit methods, and successfully quit using a custom tool he created. He spent years researching nicotine and developing a patent-pending tool to help vapers taper off – a device with which he’s won two pitch competitions. Through conversations with thousands of vapers and collaborating with addiction scientists and cessation therapists, Phil hopes this tool can one day help millions quit, and he partnered with Boomerang to fulfill this vision.

He’s been an expert panelist on Indiana’s Teen Vaping Echo, a government-sponsored program through Indiana University to educate medical professionals on youth vaping behavior, bridging the gap between their past studies and emerging science.

Phil then went on to help design Southern Illinois University’s first-ever vaping study and performed two collegiate vaping studies, with the findings being accepted and published by the American Society of Addiction Medicine in their 2022 Journal. He’s spoken with many vape industry professionals about their manufacturing and strategy – including the original creators of Juul.

Phil also produces content on TikTok, providing advice on cessation with over 1M+ views, and was recently interviewed by the NY Times for their story on emerging vape technologies.