Thank You, and Happy New Year

Welcome to 2025! 🎉

As we kick off the new year, we wanted to thank you for engaging with Rockhopper last year, take a moment to reflect on an incredible 2024, and share what’s on the horizon for us in 2025.

Rockhopper Ice enters 2025

Rockhopper Ice Collective knows that Americans have diverse preferences for different types of ice cubes, and our engineering innovations enable businesses to serve the cubes their customers are increasingly seeking out, increasing overall customer satisfaction alongside profitable growth.

Whether you are a supporter, a challenger, or just curious about our mission to make ice a choice, your engagement means the world to us. We’re so grateful to have had you influence our journey.  Thank you, and we wish you all the best in 2025.

2024: A Year of Momentum & Milestones

Looking back, it's incredible how much we've accomplished:

Awards & Recognition

·       Won multiple awards at the Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Competition, including our category and the "Bright New Idea" Award among 150+ submissions

·       Selected for the Food Finance Institute's 2024 Cohort and featured in radio interviews and print media highlighting our innovative approach

Customer & Market Validation

·       Completed comprehensive market research and published a value report demonstrating clear ROI potential for restaurant partners

·       Built a robust pipeline exceeding 3,000 potential ice machines with verbal pilot requests across multiple major brands

Product Development

·       After a 5-month engineering project with a leading product innovation company, we filed our final patent protection, completing the foundation of our intellectual property

·       Upon validation with industry experts that our detailed engineering design is achievable and commercially viable, we began prototype development with selected partners

Operations & Capital

·       Completed capital raise to execute proof-of-concept and integrated prototype development

·       Formed our advisory board of scientists and industry veterans with ice-business expertise

·       Advanced discussions with key manufacturing and strategic partners for market scaling

2025: Milestones & Objectives

Here's what's next:

·       Prototype Development: Prototyping continues, now bolstered by a new partnership with one of the world’s leading commercial refrigeration manufacturers to assemble the first Rockhopper multi-ice system with our innovative evaporators

·       Manufacturing: Advancing discussions with large-scale partners to fast-track market entry and scale

·       Capital Raise: Post-prototype we will begin our next fundraise to move into full engineering and production manufacturing

·       Market Entry: Selecting our initial strategic partner and tailoring our device to their needs

·       Operations: Scaling our service model with guidance from our experienced advisory board

The commercial ice machine market hasn't seen meaningful innovation in decades, and our conversations with industry stakeholders confirm that Rockhopper's multi-ice platform represents a significant opportunity.

As we move into 2025 with the right team, technology, and partnerships in place, we're grateful to everyone who has been part of helping us build a better, cooler future.

Here's to a fantastic 2025! Please reach out if you'd like to catch up! 🧊💡

Coldly,

The Rockhopper Team