What Counter Tools does

Counter Tools, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public health consulting organization headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, founded in 2012 by Drs. Allison Myers and Kurt Ribisl out of the UNC Gillings School of Public Health. The organization helps state agencies, local coalitions, and national public health bodies reduce the health impact of tobacco, alcohol, and other harmful products at the retail environment — the consumer's primary point of contact — by supporting policy change at state and local levels. Its work spans more than 35 states, 50 local communities, and 12 national organizations, with anchor engagements held continuously since 2013 (Florida Department of Health's Bureau of Tobacco-Free Florida) and 2015 (Virginia DBHDS).

The core platform comprises four proprietary software tools: Store Audit Center (field data collection on retailer product marketing, pricing, and placement), Store Mapper (geospatial visualization of retailer density and proximity to schools), POST (Point of Sale Toolkit for data synthesis and reporting), and STARS/fSTARS (Standardized Tobacco Assessment for Retail Settings, with fSTARS extended to menthol and flavored products in partnership with Truth Initiative). These tools are complemented by the CounterTobacco.org resource platform and bundled into bespoke engagements that include training, technical assistance, strategic planning, community engagement, and storytelling support.

Counter Tools generates revenue through sales-led, quote-based contracts with state government agencies, local health departments, and national nonprofits, delivered primarily through direct consulting engagements. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The go-to-market motion relies on thought-leadership channels — the Counter Tobacco Podcast, Healthy POS Webinar Series, blog content, conference presentations at APHA/NCTOH/CADCA, and partner co-webinars — to attract state and local public health buyers. Co-development partnerships with CADCA, NACCHO, ChangeLab Solutions, Truth Initiative, and CDC-funded initiatives (Geographic Health Equity Alliance) extend the organization's reach without adding direct sales headcount.

Name

Counter Tools

Legal name

Counter Tools, Inc.

Website

https://countertools.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Counter Tools is a Chapel Hill-based 501(c)(3) public health consulting nonprofit that helps state agencies, local coalitions, and national organizations drive retail-environment policy change for tobacco, alcohol, and other harmful substances via proprietary software tools and technical assistance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chapel Hill

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Contracts: Counter Tools generates revenue through contracts with state government agencies (such as Florida Department of Health's Bureau of Tobacco-Free Florida and Virginia DBHDS) and local health departments to provide training, technical assistance, and software tools for tobacco control and public health policy work.
2. Consulting Services: Bespoke consulting services including goal setting, strategic planning, project management, community engagement, and data collection for public health policy initiatives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Counter Tools is a public health consulting organization that provides bespoke consulting services, training, technical assistance, and proprietary software tools for place-based public health policy work. Their offerings focus on reducing the detrimental impact of unhealthy substances (tobacco, alcohol, cannabis) at the retail environment, supporting state agencies, local communities, and national organizations through the policy change lifecycle from planning to enforcement and evaluation.

Product overview

Counter Tools is a public health consulting organization that offers a suite of proprietary software tools for place-based public health work, particularly focused on the retail environment for tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis control. The core product portfolio includes Store Audit Center (data collection), Store Mapper (geographic visualization), POST (Point of Sale Toolkit for data synthesis and reporting), and STARS/fSTARS (Standardized Tobacco Assessment for Retail Settings). These tools are complemented by the CounterTobacco.org resource platform and supported by consulting services including training, technical assistance, storytelling support, and strategic planning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CounterTobacco.org: A resource platform managed by Counter Tools providing evidence, tools, and data on tobacco point-of-sale control

Products and services

• Store Audit Center A proprietary software tool that enables data collection on tobacco, alcohol, and other product retailers at the point of sale, facilitating store assessments and retail environment audits for state agencies, local communities, and researchers.
• Store Mapper A mapping technology software tool used to visualize tobacco retailer density, proximity to schools, and geographic health disparities for community health analysis, supporting advocacy and policy development.
• STARS (Standardized Tobacco Assessment for Retail Settings) A standardized retail store assessment instrument for collecting data on tobacco product marketing, pricing, and placement at point of sale, used by public health practitioners conducting tobacco control research.
• fSTARS (Flavored Standardized Tobacco Assessment for Retail Settings) An enhanced version of STARS with additional questions specifically focused on menthol and other flavored commercial tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. Developed in partnership with Truth Initiative for flavored tobacco retail surveillance.
• POST (Point of Sale Toolkit) A comprehensive proprietary toolkit for point-of-sale tobacco control work providing data synthesis and reporting tools to help communities analyze and interpret retail environment data for policy change advocacy.
• CounterTobacco.org A resource website providing evidence summaries, toolkits, data, and educational materials for tobacco point-of-sale control and public health policy, serving as a knowledge base for practitioners and advocates.
• Bespoke Public Health Consulting Services Comprehensive consulting engagements providing guidance for goal setting, strategic planning, project management, community engagement, and data collection tailored to public health policy initiatives. Offered to government agencies, nonprofits, and community coalitions.
• Custom Training and Storytelling Support Custom training sessions and webinars covering point-of-sale tobacco work, health equity, policy advocacy, and storytelling support to help communities communicate their unique health stories to support policy change.

Quantifiable outcome

• Florida's Alachua County became the first place in Florida and first county in the Southeastern US to implement local tobacco retailer licensing at the local level
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of North Texas Health Science CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 August 2024Partnership for Retail Alcohol Data (RAD) Collaborative. Joint research collaboration with researchers from UNTHSC for community coalitions, local/state alcohol policy alliances, and health departments.
• Minnesota Department of HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 December 2023New partnership to support Minnesota Department of Health in working toward its vision for health equity, where all communities are thriving and all people have what they need to be healthy.
• North Carolina Tobacco Prevention and Control BranchcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 June 2023Partnership with NC TPCB and two tobacco control regions of the state to address health equity through tobacco policy change. Counter Tools provides training and technical assistance for tobacco prevention programs and community partners.
• NACCHO (National Association of County and City Health Officials)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 November 2022Joint webinar partnership for assessing and engaging with the tobacco retailer environment at state and local level. Partnership to provide background into tobacco retailer environment and available assessment tools.
• Community Advocates Public Policy InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 October 2021Partnership to assess tobacco and alcohol retailers in their community to understand how harmful products are being marketed and sold.
• New Jersey Prevention NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 June 2021Training and technical assistance for tobacco prevention programs on point-of-sale tobacco work, sharing knowledge on tobacco industry tactics, milestones in public health prevention and control efforts, and policy strategies.
• Florida Department of Health's Bureau of Tobacco-Free FloridacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership since 2013 to survey the retail environment and spread awareness around healthy retail, with focus shifting to passing policies. Bureau launched pilot program in 2017 providing grant funding to 12 counties including Alachua County for local tobacco retailer licensing.
• Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership since 2015 to build a stronger statewide foundation for tobacco use prevention and control. What began as a project to create a more accurate list of tobacco retailers evolved into a comprehensive system supporting data-driven policy, interagency collaboration, and ongoing program support.
• Truth InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to develop fSTARS (Flavored Standardized Tobacco Assessment for Retail Settings) form specifically focused on menthol and other flavored commercial tobacco products. Joint research and reporting on how flavored tobacco products are marketed and sold in retail settings.
• CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerOngoing partnership for joint webinars including Research Into Action series and Geographic Health Equity Alliance (GHEA) collaborations. CADCA provides forum for sharing Counter Tools expertise with coalition members across the country.
• ChangeLab SolutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint resource development including Tobacco Point of Sale Preemption Playbook. Partnership on policy resources and technical assistance for local-level public health policy implementation.
• University of North CarolinaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganizational roots in UNC Gillings School of Public Health. Co-founders Drs. Allison Myers and Kurt Ribisl brought vision for supporting tobacco point-of-sale work from UNC.
• Washington University in St. LouisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for research and policy development in the tobacco control space.
• Attorney General State of ArizonaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerState government partner for tobacco enforcement and policy work.
• CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational government agency partner. CDC funding supports the Geographic Health Equity Alliance (GHEA), a CADCA initiative that Counter Tools collaborates with on reducing geographic health disparities.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• CDC Foundation: Nonprofit that mobilizes philanthropic and private-sector support for CDC priorities, including tobacco control and health equity; broader public health infrastructure that overlaps Counter Tools' CDC-funded GHEA work.
• NACCHO (National Association of County and City Health Officials): Membership association representing local health departments; joint webinar partner with Counter Tools and serves the same local-government buyers.

Direct peers

• Truth Initiative: Public health nonprofit focused on tobacco and nicotine, with research, policy, and product/tech teams; Counter Tools co-developed fSTARS with Truth Initiative and shares Board Chair Megan Jacobs.
• Health Resources in Action: Public health nonprofit providing consulting, training, and research to government and community clients on tobacco, chronic disease, and health equity; analogous services model to Counter Tools.
• Public Health Law Center: Nonprofit at Mitchell Hamline that provides legal and policy technical assistance to communities on tobacco control and commercial tobacco policy—directly comparable consulting/TA role to Counter Tools.
• CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America): National nonprofit that trains and supports community drug-free coalitions, including on tobacco; Counter Tools' GTM/marketing partner for webinars and the GHEA alliance.
• Center for Public Health Systems Science, Washington University in St. Louis: Academic research center conducting point-of-sale tobacco research and producing tools for state/local practitioners; listed as an active Counter Tools partner in research and policy development.
• ChangeLab Solutions: National nonprofit that develops policy resources and provides technical assistance on tobacco control, healthy retail, and public health law; Counter Tools' explicit co-development partner on the Tobacco Point of Sale Preemption Playbook.
• Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation: National nonprofit advocating for smoke-free air and tobacco retail policy at state/local levels; shares Counter Tools' policy advocacy and TA delivery model in tobacco control.

Others

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Major health-focused funder backing place-based and equity-oriented public health work; relevant as a potential funding peer/funder of Counter Tools' nonprofit model rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Counter Tools