Ember’s first Indiegogo
campaign drew sideways glances when it launched in 2015. Would anyone actually buy a $129 heated coffee mug? Nearly a decade later, however, it’s clear that the initial pitch was merely the tip of the startup’s heating/cooling iceberg.
TechCrunch recently sat down with Clay Alexander, the firm’s founder and chairman, to take a deep dive into Ember’s history — and catch a glimpse of where things are headed.
“We’re well over 3 million units [of the smart mug] at this point,” the executive tells TechCrunch. “We’re nearing a million units a year now. When I first created this technology, I had so many people in my life say, ‘oh Clay, you’ll never sell a $100 electronic coffee mug. You’ve lost your mind.’ As a founder, you just have to have perseverance, and you have to have this gut instinct that overpowers logic.”
The first prototype of the Ember mug was a Frankensteinian prototype involving a
Zojirushi mug
and a bunch of electronics. Image Credits: Ember
Beyond the company’s better-known coffee receptacle, Ember has made a foray into the medical sector with the Ember Cube, a shipping box for things that need to stay temperature-controlled — primarily medicines. It also makes heated baby bottles now, too.
“I always say to people that cooling is much harder than heating. Heating is fairly straightforward in that you can create a heater by using a resistive heating element or a resistive heating wire. I mean, heck, you can just put electricity and any wire. It’s gonna warm up, right?,” Alexander notes. Cooling is a different beast, however. “People don’t realize that you’re not pumping cold energy into a fridge — you’re actually pulling heat energy out of the box.”
Beginnings
Ember’s inception can be traced back to a relatable moment of frustration: a lukewarm cup of coffee. Alexander, a self-proclaimed coffee aficionado, longed for a solution to maintain the perfect temperature of his favorite brew from the first sip to the last. The path to bringing Ember to life was challenging. As a hardware startup, Ember faced unique obstacles that often deter entrepreneurs from venturing into this space. From the high product development and manufacturing costs to the complex web of IP protection and international expansion, Alexander navigated a maze of challenges that would test his resolve and determination.
