Embedding batteries into appliances to bypass big bottlenecks: home electrical upgrades. Instead of rewiring buildings, Copper turns induction stoves into distributed energy assets that can also support the grid.

Copper is building appliances with integrated energy storage, starting with Charlie, a 30” induction stove with a built-in battery. The company focuses on making electrification cheaper, faster, and easier for multifamily buildings and older housing stock.

They've received $60M in equity funding and government contracts so far.

Before co-founding Copper, CEO Sam Calisch helped launch Rewiring America, was an Activate Fellow, co-authored Electrify, and previously founded Elmworks. He earned his PhD from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms.

Here’s what we discussed:

• Installation arbitrage that changes adoption economics – Traditional induction stoves often require expensive 240V upgrades and panel work, while Charlie plugs into an existing 110V outlet behind most gas stoves using an onboard 5kWh LFP battery to deliver high-power cooking

• Multifamily as the wedge market – Buildings facing costly gas infrastructure repairs can avoid six-figure retrofit costs, with some projects saving over $100k by switching directly to Copper’s battery-enabled electric appliances

• Appliances as grid assets – Aggregated stoves participate in California’s DSGS virtual power plant program, providing dispatchable capacity during peak demand and potentially offsetting future appliance costs

• Licensing instead of building everything alone – Copper is pursuing partnerships with incumbent appliance manufacturers rather than vertically integrating every product category itself

• Founder operating system – Weekly written goals, deliberate “play time” for experimentation, outdoor activity, and separating business problems from personal identity to sustain long-term decision quality

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