eLab’s BrewJacket simplifies home brewing

BrewJacket, a Colorado-based company founded by alumni of Cornell University’s eLab accelerator program, has developed a product for those who brew beer at home. BEERMKR, an “all-in-one” craft beer brewing machine small enough to sit on a kitchen counter, makes over a gallon of customized, commercial quality beer in one week. The company raised nearly $400,000 on Kickstarter.

BrewJacket’s founders – Aaron Walls, MBA ’14, Matthew Goff, Ph.D. ’15, and Evgeniy Tkachenko, a former researcher in Cornell’s Biomedical Mechanics Group – met at Cornell and incorporated the company in 2013. Initially targeting low-volume commercial and hobbyist brewers, the company generated more than $1 million in revenue. The BEERMKR is its first foray into the consumer market.

“At Cornell, we were able to use the company as a test project in all of our classes and get incredible high-quality feedback from all of our classmates as well as professors,” Walls said. “It was like an extended incubator. We had engaged professors and mentors who challenged our thinking about the business and got us to the point where we could continue it on our own after graduating.”

Walls also noted the important role the Cornell network has played in the company’s growth. “Cornell always wins with its strong network because of the comradery that comes from spending so much time in Ithaca together. It’s something that we appreciate and are strongly grateful for. Without Cornell the company wouldn’t exist.”

- Noah Schumer ’19

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