Ember Technologies

These days, Ember does far more than make mugs that keep coffee warm. It's applying its temperature-regulating technology—with over 150 patents—to everything from baby bottles to the Ember Cube, the world’s first self-refrigerated, sensor-enabled, cloud-connected shipping box. A reusable alternative to the Styrofoam and single-use cold packs that dominate the cold chain, the Cube efficiently maintains a temperature for more than 72 hours to ensure the safety of sensitive contents like vaccines and drugs. A built-in cellular radio and GPS transmits temperature, humidity, and location data, offering useful transparency for anti-doping efforts in sports. Ember’s cubes have carried athletes' blood samples for the Boston and New York marathons. This year the company announced a partnership with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to support the U.S. Olympic Team Trials ahead of the Paris Games. The office joke? “Ember is to temperature what Dyson is to air," says Tim LeBeau, CEO of Ember's consumer division. He foresees other applications, including coolers built into new vehicles; the company has already partnered with auto manufacturers.

Correction, June 4

The original version of this story misstated Tim LeBeau's role at Ember. He is CEO of Ember’s consumer division, not of the entire company.