S'well is a reusable water bottle and insulated products company headquartered in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Sarah Kauss founded the company in 2010 and was the company's

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

until 2020.

History

S'well was founded by Sarah Kauss in 2010. She started the company after attending a panel, at her five-year

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

reunion, focused on the global clean water crisis. She initially invested $30,000 of her own savings and operated out of a brownstone in Manhattan. A year after the company launched, S'well experienced The Oprah Effect after being featured in ''

O, The Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Overview It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation was ...

''. From 2013 to 2014, the company's revenue had grown 400 percent, generating $10 million in sales by the end of the year. S'well's operations relocated to the

Flatiron District The Flatiron District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, named after the Flatiron Building at 23rd Street, Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Generally, the Flatiron District is bounded by 14th Street, Union Square and Green ...

of Manhattan in 2015. By May 2015, S'well had sold 4 million bottles. In 2016, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' reported that the company was listed first in a ranking of the fifty fastest growing women-owned or led companies after revenues increased from $10 million in 2013 to $47 million in 2015. The growth rate resulted in a listing on ''Crain's'' 2016 and 2017 Fast50. In 2016, Forbes reported that S'well had over $100M in sales. In 2017, the company increased staff at its London headquarters and expanded its retail sales to 65 countries worldwide. That same year, the company relocated its Manhattan headquarters to a larger office space. In September 2018, the company partnered with the NYC Mayor's Office of Sustainability and the

New York City Department of Education The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (or the New York City Public Schools) is t ...

which gave out S’well water bottles to 600 high schools. In February 2020 Hugh Rovit became CEO.

Product

The company sells bottles that hold , or . The bottles are reusable and include triple-layer insulation. The manufacturer claims the bottles are non-leaking, non-toxic and they keep liquids cold for 24 hours and hot for 12 hours. However, objective testing suggests that the actual durations may be shorter. A 2015 consumer report tested the efficacy of the S'well bottle. Initially filling the bottle with water at , the testers compared changes in temperature using a regular plastic bottle as the control. After five hours, the plastic bottle's water temperature read while the S'well's water read . After twenty-four hours, the plastic bottle's water was at , the S'well's water at . Testing the product's heat retention claim, the testers filled the bottle with hot coffee. The initial temperature was above . Six hours later, the thermometer read more than . Twelve hours later the temperature was , dropping 42 °F (24 °C). In March 2016, S'Well released S'ip by S'well, a line of 15oz bottles sold through retail chain

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

. As of November 2017, the company produced bottles in over 200 different designs. S'well added new bottles named the Traveler and the Tumbler in 2017. In 2018, the company added the Roamer, a large bottle, to its line. In 2019, S’well launched new lines of portable triple-layer food and snacking containers.

References

{{Authority control 2010 establishments in New York City Bottles Companies based in Manhattan Manufacturing companies based in New York City Manufacturing companies established in 2010