Started in The Hague in 2019. Now heating home-cooked meals in 60+ countries with an electric steam food heater that works anywhere.
Real food deserves better than a microwave.
We lived the problem ourselves. Long days, carefully prepared meals, and no decent way to eat them hot away from home. Every electric food warmer we found either ruined the texture, soaked the food, or heated it unevenly. So we built an electric steam food heater that actually works. One that treats your home-cooked meal with the respect you put into making it.
Why steam is the right way to heat real food.
- Heats every part of your meal evenly — no cold centre, no scorched edge Steam surrounds your food completely. Unlike a microwave, there is no single hot spot — every bite comes out the same.
- Locks moisture in, so food tastes exactly as you made it Steam creates a humid environment around the food, preserving texture and keeping sauces together instead of drying them out.
- Rice stays fluffy. Vegetables keep their bite. Proteins stay tender. Gentle heat preserves cell structure, so your meal arrives with the same texture it had when you cooked it.
- Gentle heat retains more vitamins and nutrients than a microwave High microwave temperatures destroy heat-sensitive vitamins. Steam works at a lower temp and keeps more of them intact.
- Heats your food anywhere — no kitchen, no queue, no compromise Plug into any power source. Works on the train, at your desk, in the car, or off-grid with the optional battery pack.
- Radiation blasts from one direction — cold spots are unavoidable
- Pulls moisture out and leaves your food dry
- Rubbery proteins, soggy vegetables, split sauces
- Destroys heat-sensitive vitamins and nutrients
- Requires a kitchen, a socket, and a queue
Six years building the right answer.
We lived the problem, then built the solution.
In 2019, Kevin de Krieger and co-founder Amit Jaura presented the first 3D-printed prototype of a portable electric steam food heater at FIBO in Germany. A Kickstarter campaign followed and raised over 500 pre-orders — proof that the need for a better hot food solution on the go was real, and widely shared.
500+ backers · Kickstarter 2019CES Las Vegas — the world took notice.
Steambox presented at CES Las Vegas at the Holland Pavilion. More than 60 news outlets worldwide covered the electric self-heating food container. The response made one thing clear: this was not just a Dutch problem to solve. Portable hot food is a universal need.
CES Las Vegas · 60+ media worldwideThe hardest year became the foundation.
COVID disrupted the supply chain. A manufacturer dropped out. The team rebuilt from scratch, found a new production partner, and secured first investors — raising €160,000 in the process. Most early-stage hardware startups would have stopped here. We did not, because the problem we set out to solve had not gone away.
€160k raised · First investors on boardThousands of people eating better, every day.
After presenting at IFA Berlin, Steambox began shipping in 2023. Thousands of portable electric food heaters reached daily commuters, athletes, field workers, nurses, and travellers across more than 60 countries. The electric steam container had found its audience — people who cook well and refuse to eat badly.
IFA Berlin · 60+ countries · 2,400+ ownersFrom The Hague to the world's front pages.
Engadget, TechCrunch, BBC, and RTL Nieuws all covered Steambox. The electric steam food heater earned a place in the KVK Innovation Top 100 Netherlands. A small Dutch team building something the world had not seen before — a self-heating food container that actually respects the meal inside it.
Engadget · TechCrunch · BBC · KVK Top 100We stopped. We listened. We rebuilt it properly.
By 2024 we faced a choice: keep selling a product we knew could be better, or stop and rebuild from the core. We chose to rebuild. We removed the built-in battery and focused entirely on what makes this electric food heater exceptional — steam. The result: twice as fast, 40% lighter, €100 less expensive. Rated 4.8 stars.
2x faster · 40% lighter · 4.8 starsFull control over what you eat, wherever you are.
The electric steam food heater was the starting point, not the finish line. We are building a complete ecosystem — more products, more tools, more ways to eat your own food at its best, anywhere in the world. Everything we add has to earn its place. The best version of Steambox is still ahead.
New products · New markets · Same missionWho eats better with Steambox
The commuter
You cook on Sunday because you know the week will be relentless. You want that meal on Thursday to be as warm, fresh, and good as when it left your kitchen. A portable electric food heater that fits in your bag makes that possible — every single day.
The athlete
You meal prep with precision because what you eat shapes how you perform. Cold protein and limp rice after training is not performance nutrition — it is a compromise. Steambox heats your food the way it deserves, so your preparation never goes to waste.
Everyone away from a kitchen
The field worker. The nurse on a long shift. The parent driving between commitments. The traveller far from any oven. If you took the time to cook a proper meal, Steambox makes sure that effort was not wasted the moment you left the house. Hot food anywhere is not a luxury — it is what you deserve.
Three beliefs we have never compromised on.
Real food first
The point was never the technology. It was the meal you actually want to eat — treated with the same respect you gave it when you cooked it. Every decision we make, from materials to heat method, starts there.
Good food belongs everywhere
Eating well should not depend on being near a kitchen. Steambox is an electric portable food heater built on the belief that your own food — prepared with care, exactly as you intended — should always be an option. Whether you are on a train, at a desk, in a van, or halfway up a mountain.
One thing, done properly
We stripped the product back to its core strength: steam. We would rather do one thing exceptionally well than ten things adequately. That is exactly why the new Steambox is faster, lighter, and more affordable than anything we built before. Everything we add from here has to earn its place against that standard.
“The easy thing in 2024 was to walk away. I did not want to — because the problem we set out to solve still had not been solved properly.”
I started Steambox in 2019 because I lived the problem myself. Long days on the road, carefully prepared meals, and no way to eat them hot without a microwave that ruined the texture. We presented at CES, survived a pandemic, secured investment, and shipped to 60+ countries. Then in 2024 we made the hardest call: stop, listen to thousands of customers, and rebuild. We removed the battery and focused entirely on steam — the one thing that makes this electric food heater genuinely better than anything else. Today the product is better than it has ever been, and what comes next is what I am most excited about.
Eat your own food, at its best, anywhere.
The electric steam food heater that heats 2x faster, weighs 40% less, and costs €100 less than before. Designed in the Netherlands. Shipping to 60+ countries. From €169.
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