With a rattle not unlike the sound of coffee beans being dumped into a grinder, Nate Saal pours a scoop of cocoa nibs into the top of the latest versi

This Tech Entrepreneur Scored With Home Media Streaming; Now He’s Miniaturizing the Chocolate Factory

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2021-06-18 01:00:05

With a rattle not unlike the sound of coffee beans being dumped into a grinder, Nate Saal pours a scoop of cocoa nibs into the top of the latest version of his chocolate making appliance. It takes up less than a square foot on the countertop, and fits easily under most cabinets.

It wasn’t easy to shrink a chocolate factory into a small gadget. It’s been more than five years since Saal made his first attempt, now sitting on the floor in front of the counter and began turning his quest into a company, now named CocoTerra and with several million dollars of angel investment behind it. Four more prototypes followed.

Starting a company wasn’t new to Saal. After graduating with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale, he became fascinating with the possibilities of the web, first joining Smart Valley, a non-profit aiming to increase access to Internet technology in 1994, then starting his first web-technology, CatchUP, an automated update system, two years later. He sold the company to CNET in 1999.

Next came GlooLabs, and a media streaming platform. Cisco purchased that company in 2007, adding the technology to a Linksys network storage device tagged the Media Hub. Then came Tactus Technology, a startup developing a touch-screen interface that used microfluidics to create a morphing keyboard with temporary raised buttons. In 2013, with funding dwindling and smart phone manufacturers committed to glass screens, he left that company.

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