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AeroPress
The cult coffee maker sold in 60 countries.
Based in Palo Alto, CA.
Key facts
- Joined Tiny
- 2021held 5 years
- Founded by
- Alan Adler
- Based in
- Palo Alto, CA
- Website
- aeropress.com
About AeroPress
AeroPress was invented in 2005 by Alan Adler, a Stanford engineering lecturer and inventor with more than 40 patents to his name. Frustrated by bitter coffee from his drip machine, he designed a simple plastic plunger that uses gentle pressure and a short brew time to extract clean, low-acid coffee. The device became a cult favorite almost entirely by word of mouth — baristas, travelers, and home brewers passed it from kitchen to kitchen until it was sold in more than 60 countries and had spawned its own World AeroPress Championship.
Tiny acquired AeroPress in 2021, partnering with a small operating team to take a beloved but lightly managed product and invest in its global brand, channel expansion, and product line. The acquisition kept AeroPress's headquarters in Palo Alto, California and preserved the original product unchanged — the same brewer that has been sold to tens of millions of customers since 2005.
The company has since launched new variants including the AeroPress Clear and AeroPress XL, expanded into more retail and direct-to-consumer channels, and grown the AeroPress Championship series into a global event held in a different host country each year.
Why AeroPress fits Tiny
AeroPress is exactly the kind of business Tiny is built to own — a profitable consumer product with a loyal customer base, an iconic founder, and decades of organic growth that came from people buying it and recommending it to friends rather than from advertising. The product itself has barely changed in 20 years, and the brand carries a level of trust that's almost impossible to manufacture.
Tiny's role is to invest in the things AeroPress couldn't easily do on its own — international distribution, new product development, and stewardship of the World Championship — without disrupting what already worked. The same brewer, the same factory, the same community of devoted users.