There’s a new top earner among Kickstarter campaigns. The Coolest Cooler is a high-tech appliance that its creator describes as more of a portable party than a regular cooler.
The campaign still has a couple of days left, but it’s already raised more than $10.7 million. That’s enough for it to surpass the Pebble smartwatch, which previously held the title of Kickstarter’s most highly funded project.
What is it That People Love so Much About the Coolest Cooler?
To start with, it includes features such as a waterproof Bluetooth speaker, USB charger, LED lid light, battery powered blender, and more. Plus, of course, it can keep food and drinks cold as most coolers do.
A cooler isn’t necessarily something that people would associate with innovative technology. But the lack of similar options could very well be what has led to so much crowdfunding success. Creator Ryan Grepper told CNBC:
“The cooler industry has been around a long time, but this is a new concept and ultimately this will be a benefit for all consumers as other concepts come out of the traditional industry. And I hope this inspires other innovators, inventors, people with an idea for something new in an otherwise stagnant industry.”
Could Even More High-Tech Coolers be Poised to Enter the Market?
There are nearly 51,000 backers who seem to think it’s a good idea. And Grepper himself has so much faith in the idea that he stuck with it even when at first it failed.
Originally, Grepper began working on development of a cooler hybrid about 10 years ago. The inventor initially tried to fund the project on Kickstarter in 2013. But at that time, the project was only able to raise just over $102,000, well short of its $125,000 goal.
But Grepper didn’t give up there. Clearly, it seems that with the right message and reach, a high-tech party cooler is something consumers will pay for.
The Coolest Cooler is expected to sell a retail price of $299 and is scheduled to be available in February 2015.
Wicked idea! Makes sense. Love the name too! I wonder what other colours it’ll come in. I like the orange, but I’d want a silver or black.
Annie Pilon
I agree – I’m not sure if it’ll come in different colors, but I think that would be a great idea!
I hope it does. The orange looks cool, but not everyone’s going to like orange.
Aira Bongco
Really cool. If you fuse ordinary household products with technology, it really becomes this cool. The cost is too steep though. If your goal is just to keep the drinks cold, then this is too much.
I did think the price was steep too, but that’s just for me and my pocket. For its uniqueness and various other functionalities, I can see why it’s priced at that.
Annie Pilon
Yeah, I can see why it costs so much seeing how it fuses so many different things. But I think it’s too much for me to buy one at this point.
Jake
It’s nice but I can get a portable speaker for my phone for maybe 50 bucks or less, a cooler for 20 bucks and a portable blender for 30, I’ll have over a hundred bucks. So why spend that much on it?
This will appeal to some people, Jake, and not to others. I can understand why someone might choose to buy it, and why others will choose not to.
Annie Pilon
I agree with Ebele. I think some people will buy it for the novelty of it, and some people will think it’s just convenient to have all those things in one package. It’s not for me necessarily, but clearly some people are into the idea.