The "Coolest" Cooler — an invention that turns the typical cooler into a high-tech gadget complete with a blender, Bluetooth speaker, and USB charger — is on track to
break a crowdsourcing record on Kickstarter.
Portland, Oregon, native and inventor Ryan Grepper has blown past his initial $50,000 goal, instead racking up a jaw dropping $7.1 million thanks to donations from more than 36,000 people.
What's more, tracking site Kicktraq predicts that the "Coolest" Cooler could shatter Kickstarter records and raise nearly $22 million if the pledges remain on pace through the end of the campaign on August 29.
The cooler comes with an 18-volt battery-powered and rechargeable ice-crushing blender, a waterproof and removable Bluetooth speaker, LED lid light, a bottle opener, USB charger, integrated storage for plates and knives, and a
cutting board, according to the Raycom News Network.
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The current crowdsourcing record reportedly belongs to the creators of the Pebble e-Watch, which raised more than $10 million in 2012 for a customizable watch that users can sync to their smartphones.
Grepper has gotten a lot of attention to drive his invention, appearing on "CBS This Morning" on Thursday to pitch his tricked-out cooler.
According to USA Today, this was Grepper's second attempt to market the "Coolest" Cooler on Kickstarter. He first raised $102,188 of a $125,000 goal with his campaign in November.
"I wasn't far enough along in the design," Grepper told USA Today earlier this month. "It was the middle of winter, and most people weren't thinking about coolers, no matter what features they had."
Grepper said that he thought he would have better odds re-launching the Kickstarter effort in the summer and by retooling the design. He was right.
"I was just so ecstatic . . . It exceeded my wildest expectations," he said. "As an inventor, it was so amazing to have so many people to connect with what I had made."
The "Coolest" Cooler is scheduled to go on the market in February for $299, but backers can get pre-order the cooler for a pledge of $165, according to the Raycom News Network.
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