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Ember & Ash Investment Memorandum
Company Highlights
Industry: Luxury Kitchenware
Founded in: 2025
Operating Markets: South Africa
Fundraising
Funding round: Pre-Seed
Ask: $1 million
Pitch Deck
Detailed Memorandum
Problem
We see this problem extend beyond the kitchen into gifting as well. When cookware is offered as a present, it often falls into the same uninspiring category as mass-produced hampers or generic appliances. These gifts may be convenient, but they do not last in memory or in use. They lack a sense of permanence, often failing to deliver the emotional weight and longevity that true gifts of value should carry. In short, both the buyer and the recipient are short-changed: one gives without impact, and the other receives without joy.
Here at Ember & Ash, we believe this gap matters deeply because cookware is more than a functional tool, it is part of how families gather, how meals are shared, and how traditions are passed down. When the tools of those traditions lack identity, the experience is diminished. We are addressing a problem that is not only commercial but also cultural: the erosion of craftsmanship, meaning, and memory in one of the most intimate spaces of the home, the table.
The Solution
We focus on three pillars to deliver this solution: material integrity, personalization, and service. Our tri-ply stainless steel base ensures even heat distribution whether it is used over a braai, stove, or oven, solving the performance issues that plague mass-market alternatives. To elevate identity and meaning, we offer engraving options that transform cookware into a personal statement or a treasured gift, adding layers of individuality and prestige. Finally, our lifetime service plan means every product can be refurbished and refreshed, ensuring it does not end its life in a cupboard or landfill but instead grows in character alongside its owner.
Taken together, this creates more than a product, it creates an ecosystem of quality, identity, and longevity. We are restoring cookware to its rightful place: not just as a utility, but as an heirloom and a centerpiece of the home. By making beauty, performance, and permanence inseparable, we solve the problem of generic, short-lived kitchenware and reintroduce cookware that truly matters.
The Product
Yet what makes our product truly distinctive goes beyond engineering. Each piece is completed with locally sourced hardwood handles, chosen for their beauty, strength, and ability to remain cool to the touch. These handles are carefully fitted by artisans, transforming an everyday tool into an object of design. Customers also have the option to personalize their cookware with engravings or brand logos, adding a unique layer of identity. This personalization elevates each item from a functional product to a deeply meaningful possession, particularly powerful in contexts such as weddings, housewarmings, or corporate gifting.
Our cookware is supported by a lifetime service plan, ensuring that it grows with its owner rather than being discarded when worn. This commitment to aftercare means that every Ember & Ash piece is a long-term companion, not a disposable purchase. By combining technical excellence, artisan detail, and a guarantee of service, our product becomes more than cookware, it becomes a legacy item. This is how we redefine premium kitchenware: as a fusion of performance, story, and permanence.
How it Works
Step 1 – Choose
Customers begin by selecting the size, finish, and hardwood handle that best reflects their taste. This starting point allows each piece to carry a sense of individuality from the very beginning.
Step 2 – Personalize
Next, they can add engravings or brand logos, transforming cookware into something unique. Whether it is a family monogram, a meaningful message, or a corporate mark, personalization elevates the piece into a gift or heirloom.
Step 3 – Fabricate
Our workshop then brings the design to life. The shell is precision-machined with a tri-ply stainless steel base to ensure even heat distribution across braai, stove, or oven. Skilled artisans fit the hardwood handles, completing a blend of engineering and craft.
Step 4 – Certify
Every product is quality checked, registered, and backed by our lifetime service plan. This ensures not just immediate performance but long-term care and support, so each piece endures across generations.
Step 5 – Present
Finally, the cookware is delivered in luxury packaging, accompanied by a certificate and care kit. This final step creates an unboxing experience that signals quality, permanence, and pride of ownership. By the time it arrives at the customer’s home, it is more than cookware—it is a story, a statement, and a legacy in the making.
Value Proposition
Traditional solutions leave too much to be desired. Imported premium brands often come with slow shipping, limited service, and no personalization. Generic hampers and retail cookware may be convenient, but they lack quality, durability, and the sense of occasion that makes a gift truly memorable. Even when people spend more, what they often receive is inconsistency: products that look good in a box but fail to perform in the kitchen or last over time. This mismatch has created an opportunity for us to step in with something that is both premium and practical, personal yet universal.
Our value proposition is simple but powerful: heirloom-grade cookware that performs, impresses, and endures. By combining thermal excellence with artisan detail, personalization, and lifetime service, we position ourselves as the clear choice for those who want more than just a pan. We offer a solution that elevates everyday cooking, enriches gifting moments, and signals lasting value. With Ember & Ash, customers invest not in something disposable, but in something enduring a piece that will live at the heart of their table and their story.
Features and Benefits
Benefits
Together, these features and benefits set Ember & Ash apart by delivering heirloom-quality cookware that is as memorable as it is functional.
Market Opportunity
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Business Model
Our primary income comes from product sales, both to individual consumers and through B2B channels. Direct-to-consumer purchases capture demand from households seeking premium cookware or meaningful gifts, while corporate and registry partnerships open scalable revenue lines. In B2B gifting, for example, estate agents, HR departments, and corporate clients use our cookware as distinctive branded gifts, providing consistent demand at scale. These partnerships create a reliable foundation of repeat business while also broadening awareness of our brand. Alongside this, engraving fees and accessories offer a natural upsell, adding layers of personalization and identity that deepen customer loyalty.
Our service plans round out the model by creating a cycle of recurring engagement. The promise of refurbishing and refreshing cookware ensures that each customer remains connected to us long after the initial purchase. This approach reduces churn, fosters word-of-mouth referrals, and extends lifetime value. By combining direct sales with personalization and service-driven recurring revenue, we create a model that is both profitable and defensible. In essence, we do not just sell cookware, we build enduring customer relationships, where every purchase opens the door to decades of interaction and value.
Go to Market
To achieve this, we leverage both direct-to-consumer and B2B channels. On the B2B side, we partner with estate agents, HR teams, and corporate gifting firms who need memorable gifts at scale. Wedding registries and curated partnerships give us access to consumers during life events when cookware has both functional and symbolic value. For direct-to-consumer buyers, our e-commerce platform makes the purchase seamless, while luxury packaging and engraving options ensure a powerful unboxing and gifting experience. By aligning with both personal and professional gifting occasions, we create multiple, complementary pathways to growth.
Our strategy is supported by clear marketing initiatives. We will combine targeted digital campaigns with influencer partnerships, curated PR moments, and storytelling that highlights our craftsmanship and South African heritage. KPIs will track adoption through unit sales, engraving uptake, B2B partnerships secured, and customer referrals. Distribution will initially focus on direct sales via e-commerce, followed by scaling into national B2B networks and select export markets. Through these steps, we will grow our presence deliberately, ensuring every customer touchpoint reinforces our brand identity: premium, personal, and enduring.
Team
Our founder, Alexander Smith, leads the brand with a background in product design, ensuring every item is as functional as it is beautiful. Isabella Jones brings her expertise from the culinary world, grounding our designs in practical use while also adding creative flair. Sophia Brown drives our marketing efforts, focusing on how best to communicate our vision and reach customers who value craftsmanship and identity. Alongside them, we collaborate with fabrication advisors and artisan partners who provide the technical and craft expertise to bring our products to life.
Together, this mix of design thinking, culinary insight, and marketing know-how gives us the foundation to grow into a category leader. More importantly, it ensures we stay true to our values: authenticity, quality, and service. As we expand, we will build on this core team with additional expertise in operations, distribution, and finance, while always keeping our heart in the craft that makes Ember & Ash unique.
Competitive Advantage
CulinaPro – Stylish but Shallow
CulinaPro invests in sleek design and brand appeal, yet its products are prone to underperformance in the kitchen. Looks outshine utility. We merge artisan finishes with tri-ply engineering, ensuring cookware that is both beautiful and reliable, built to endure daily use.
Sentirai – Unique but Fragile
Sentirai differentiates through identity-driven designs but fails on durability. Their pieces often wear down quickly, leaving customers disappointed. We combine personalization with lasting strength, supported by a lifetime service plan that refreshes and extends every product’s life.
By delivering on both performance and personalization, we occupy the premium space competitors cannot. This dual focus allows us to win in the kitchen and at the gifting table, setting Ember & Ash apart as the only cookware brand that truly performs, impresses, and endures.
Roadmap
The next stage is development. Over the coming two years, our priorities include completing final product refinements, launching our e-commerce platform, and executing a 1,000-unit production run. Alongside this, we will pilot B2B orders with key partners, building repeatable sales channels in real estate gifting, HR recognition programs, and wedding registries. To enable this growth, we will raise a seed round to fund a Cape Town-based workshop, giving us the capacity to expand SKUs, finishes, and packaging options while increasing production reliability.
Looking further ahead, our growth phase spans the next five years. By then, we aim to establish a national B2B footprint, expand into export markets with limited editions, and launch a flagship workshop that doubles as both production space and brand experience. With these milestones, we position ourselves not only as a cookware company but as a category leader in premium gifting, building the house, and earning our place at the table.
Financial Reports
Financial Forecasts
Forecasts
Financial Dashboard
Dashboard
Valuation Report
Link to full screen presentation
Disclaimer
The contents of this document are compiled by on behalf of the founders of the company being presented and the accuracy of these documents is solely their responsibility.
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