About ten years ago, IKEA famously released a concept video that laid out its vision for the kitchen of the future. The central concept of their envisioned future kitchen was a kitchen table that not only made the experience of cooking and eating interactive with a touch interface, but also had built-in transmitters under the surface of the table that transmitted power to electrical appliances and powered heating zones that were invisible to the eye.
It was a compelling peek into what could be. While the technology of the induction hob was a mature technology, the idea of using an induction transmitter to provide wireless power and heating in everyday areas of the kitchen sparked our imaginations in the same way as John Anderton’s character of Tom Cruise about touch points two decades ago. Little Report.
Ever since IKEA released its video, the idea of the future of using ordinary space as a source of energy and heat for cooking has been slowly creeping into reality without seeming to make it tick. Although there have been some efforts in the development of standards by the same organization that brought the Qi standard for phone charging, the introduction of a real product for kitchen areas with built-in wireless power and heating has been nonexistent.
But that changed in twelve months thanks to a company called Cloen. Located on the east coast of the Iberian peninsula, this small Spanish startup has begun to pull back the curtain on a technology it has been developing for the better part of a decade. The company’s technology, which it calls Cloen Cordless Technology (CCT), is built around a system of two induction plates that provide heating for cooking surfaces and wireless power transmission to countertop devices.
The company’s patented technology is on display in New York City at the flagship showroom of Spanish tile manufacturer Porcelanosa. For Porcelanosa, another company (and the oldest) that makes its home in the Valencian Community of Spain, Cloen creates a custom-designed set of kitchen counters and furniture with CCT technology under the Gamadecor brand of the Spanish furniture company.
You can watch a demo video of the Gamadecor product powered by CCT below:
In addition to developing their own countertop kitchen products and those of partners (such as Porcelanosa) with built-in transmission systems, Cloen is also working on a new line of small countertop appliances under the BeCordless brand, a joint venture between Cloen and the kitchen company Bergner. These countertop cooking appliances, which you can see in use in the video above, include blenders, toasters, and air fryers.
The company is working with Porcelanosa on the cooking surface roadmap to create modular kitchen cooking surfaces with invisible cooking surfaces and energy transfer surfaces. It also works with other manufacturers to create kitchen tables with two cooking zones and power transfer zones.
Above: A rendering of the 5 dual induction modular system being developed for release in 2025
The company has also worked with TV producers in Spain and South Korea to create custom products for chef-centric cooking shows. In fact, you can see a Cloen-powered cooktop on Netflix in the reality TV show Lady Tamara, about Spanish aristocrat and chef Tamara Falcó.
For its product in Korea, the company created a table similar to the one in the IKEA concept video. However, if you expect to cook only on a wooden kitchen table, you may be a little disappointed. According to Cloen, the table will have both power points on the wooden surface and induction heating on the glass surface placed inside.
The company, founded by Pablo Cerra, an engineer by training, has grown to about 20 people, more than half of whom are engineers. The focus on engineering is due to Cerra’s intention to build everything needed for the system. Cloen not only owns the core technology concepts but also develops software and provides SoC circuit boards to be built into partner systems.
“The secret is the software algorithm and the chip (microprocessor),” Cerra told Spoon. “That is the secret of all technology.”
Cerra and his team decided to build a full-stack company to be an ingredient in their technology and other wireless energy kitchen products because he felt the foundation needed to be laid in the market.
“This technology should be available to everyone,” Cerra said. “If you buy a cell phone now, you can charge it with a standard charger or wireless charging. The thing is, wireless power and induction in the kitchen should be the same.”
But Cloen is not alone. As mentioned, the Wireless Power Consortium is working on its Ki standard, and we’ve heard from many electronics brands that they are investigating and actively developing products that will incorporate wireless power. Other startups and tile companies are also looking to build wireless energy systems.
The retreat, the advent of wireless power and invisible cooking surfaces are also part of a wider trend towards technology and working in the kitchen moving backwards. Of course, it is part of the invisible kitchen design trend, but it is also bigger than that, part of the technological megatrend that is disappearing before our eyes, inspired by AI, voice and touch platforms, the miniaturization of technology, and the influence of companies like Apple and, well, IKEA in the last decade.