The Coolest Cooler Has Officially Blown Through All $13 Million of Its Kickstarter Money

Not cool.

The second all-time highest grossing Kickstarter campaign has run into some serious cash-flow issues, according to Crowdfunded Insider. The company making the "Coolest" — an amped-up cooler, complete with a built-in blender, a waterproof Bluetooth speaker, and a USB charger, to name just the big features — is seeking additional investments to actually ship the cooler to all the people who funded its project to the tune of $13.2 million.

There were early warning signs of this back in November, when the company started -pre-selling the cooler on Amazon for $499; CEO Ryan Grepper posted a video to YouTube informing customers that the company needed those sales to "keep the lights on" and make sure all the 62,642 Kickstarter backers' coolers could get made and shipped.

Coolest's big issue arose when the company that made motors for the blender went on strike and shut down, prompting a search for a new system that would fit the standards of the cooler.

The problem now is that Coolest needs money to ship these hefty parties-on-wheels. According to an email sent to supporters of the Coolest campaign, the company is "in the process of identifying the right partner who can provide the capital and strategic resources to fund the remaining production of backer rewards and help grow the company to the next level. We're not quite there yet, but it is moving forward."

Some Kickstarter backers have already received the Coolest, to mixed reviews. If Grepper is able to find an investment partner, he may actually be able to make good on delivering Coolest coolers to all his backers — hopefully.

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