
The $60M Bet on Battery-Powered Stoves | Copper
From Climate CEOs: Scaling Startups by Dr. Chris Wedding — Climate Tech CEO Coach | CEO @ EFI
June 9, 2026 · 42 min
About this episode
The episode discusses Copper's innovative approach to integrating batteries into induction stoves to facilitate electrification and support the energy grid.
Embedding batteries into appliances to bypass big bottlenecks : home electrical upgrades . Instead of rewiring buildings, Copper turns induction stove s 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…
People in this episode
Host: Dr. Chris Wedding
Guest: Sam Calisch
Topics covered
- battery-powered appliances
- electrification
- energy storage
- induction stoves
- multifamily buildings
- grid assets
Keywords
- battery-powered stoves
- electrification
- energy storage
- induction cooking
- multifamily housing
- grid support
- Charlie stove
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Copper, Rewiring America, Activate, MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, California’s DSGS
Products: Charlie
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