Designers Dave and Calvin Laituri have joined forces to kickstart Pucs, small, stainless-steel icecube replacements that promise to chill your drink without wetting it down. The Pucs are milled of solid steel and come in a handsome wooden tray that you can place right into the freezer.
The Pucs are rechargeable in that they will not degrade and hold their temperature for quite a while – the creators suggest adding and removing them as you see fit – and the will even reduce the temperature of hot beverages.
The team is looking for $2,500 to ship the first batch and they’re nearly at $2,000.
While the Pucs aren’t that amazingly new – similar rocks and metal cubes have been available for years – the process that the creators are going through is particularly interesting. Hardware startups don’t all have to be making smart watches or robotic arms. A cool, fun project like this is what makes crowdfunding so unique. First, the lads don’t have to make thousands of these, ship them, and hope they sell through a distributor. Whereas household goods are traditionally sold at big box stores and discounters, this process allows the creators to build just as many as they need and, when they’re ready to make more, they have a solid word-of-mouth list that they can approach for updates and further orders.