Who is Austin Maxwell?

Meet Austin Maxwell, Co-Founder at Kanga Coolers!

About Kanga Coolers

Kanga Coolers produces iceless coolers designed to keep food and beverage cold for up to six hours at a time. Their products are compact, lightweight, and affordable, making them a good alternative to traditional coolers. 

Austin’s Journey

Austin Maxwell’s path from engineering student to entrepreneur is a story of unexpected shifts. After studying engineering at Clemson from 2013 to 2017, Austin found himself drawn more toward business and entrepreneurship than his original field. Reflecting on his time in school, he says, “I honestly hated everything about my engineering classes.” Kanga Coolers began as a college class project in 2017, started by Austin's partners, Logan and Ryan, along with three other classmates. When it became clear that some team members weren’t fully committed, Austin stepped in to help. “Within the third month of the class project, I realized these guys were really trying to do something with this," he says. By the summer of 2017, the three had officially founded Kanga Coolers.

Kanga Cooler’s Big Break

Their big break came when they appeared on Shark Tank, which Austin describes as a "rocket ship" for the brand, accelerating growth by "two to two and a half years." Kanga’s original product, an iceless cooler for a case of beer, soda, or seltzer, has since expanded into a “beverage cooling ecosystem” that now includes soft-sided coolers, backpacks, and drinkware. Looking back on their journey, Austin emphasizes how Shark Tank “put us on the map” but is confident they would have found success without it, just at a slower pace.

Business Growth and Revenue Strategies

Kanga Coolers has come a long way since its original product, a simple cooler designed to fit around a 12, 24, or 30-pack of beer in its cardboard packaging. "The cardboard acts as an insulator on its own," says Austin, but as the company grew, so did their product line. I

n 2020, they moved into the soft-sided cooler space with the pouch, a waterproof cooler designed to hold canned or bottled beverages. "We know people use coolers for all sorts of things, so we didn’t want to limit that," Austin says, explaining the brand’s evolution beyond its original product into a broader beverage cooling ecosystem. This shift reflects Kanga's drive to innovate and cater to a growing customer base.

The team has expanded along with the product line, growing from three co-founders to 16 full-time employees, all operating from Kanga’s Greenville, South Carolina office. "We do operate everyone in-office," Austin explains, noting that flexibility is encouraged with optional remote days. 

Growth has also brought structure, with weekly “Master Mind Mondays” where the team shares knowledge and insights. "It’s such a great way to kick off the week," Austin shares. As their business has grown, so has its seasonality. "During the holiday season, we’ll have over 35 people in both the office and warehouse; this includes our full-time and temporary staff. That’s a big jump from the usual 16 team members we have year-round." Austin says, highlighting how the holiday season now drives 50% of their annual revenue. Kanga's growth is a testament to their adaptability and focus on scaling while maintaining a collaborative culture.

Innovation and Adaptability

Austin admits that while Kanga Coolers found early success with their original product, the Kase Mate, they quickly realized they needed more to sustain growth. “We had people saying, ‘You’re doing great, but what’s next? You’re kind of a one-trick pony.’ That resonated with us,” Austin shares. Trade shows also underscored the need for new products. Retailers would ask, “What’s new?” and Austin recalls realizing their booth offered only slight design updates. 

This led to an epiphany: they needed to expand beyond just the Case Mate. “We pushed it as far as we could, but now what’s next?” In the past few years, Kanga Coolers has focused on diversifying their product line and investing in infrastructure, like hiring a product developer and implementing NetSuite, to support future growth. Austin describes this year as one of "responsible growth," emphasizing the importance of laying a strong foundation to scale the business beyond just one product.

Keeping up with demand

Austin reflects on how the unexpected surge of holiday sales in 2020 caught Kanga Coolers off guard. "Q4 smacked us in the face," he admits, adding that their tremendous sales during the pandemic's peak holiday season taught them valuable lessons in preparation. 

Since then, they’ve shifted their approach, starting to plan earlier each year. "I think this year we started planning in March, April," Austin shares, a sharp contrast to earlier years when they only began preparing a few months before the holiday rush. This forward-thinking strategy has become key to managing the intense demands of the fourth quarter.

Part of their preparation involves scaling up key areas like customer service and warehouse staffing.

 "We outsource customer service, but she scales up her team to manage the influx," Austin explains, noting the importance of maintaining fast response times during the busy season. For the warehouse, they bring in temp workers ahead of time to account for turnover. "Not everyone wants to ship packages all day," Austin says, but he’s confident their fun work environment helps retain staff. "Planning and preparation" are the words he emphasizes for tackling the holiday season, though he remains humble, acknowledging, "You never know when all hell breaks loose."

Austin Maxwell is optimistic about Kanga Coolers’ future, anticipating the launch of nine new products over the next 18 months. 

He states, "I can anticipate all nine are going to be home runs," but adds that if "two or three of them have a significant impact, we have an exciting future ahead." After a stagnant period with no new products in 2023 and the first half of 2024, he notes the need for innovation, explaining, "There’s been a plateau from existing offerings, with retailers asking for what's new." The upcoming lineup includes kitchenware and products for the spirits and wine market, marking a strategic shift. “I’ve never felt this level of optimism for the brand,” he says, expressing a newfound focus on long-term strategy: “I used to think only about tomorrow or next week, but now I'm looking ahead to 2026 and 2027, and that's a very cool place to be."

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