The idea for NEMO was born one turbulent night in 2002 on the side of Mount Washington, where founder Cam Brensinger spent five sleepless hours in a poorly designed bivy. That night, he realized how much opportunity there was for thoughtful design as part of the equation for enjoying adventure. Coming down the mountain the next day, he resolved to tackle that challenge. Cam founded NEMO Equipment in the spring of his senior year at the Rhode Island School of Design and, three days after graduation, opened its first office in Nashua, New Hampshire.
The name NEMO was inspired by both the idea of "New England Mountain Outfitters" and Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo.
Cam set up operations in a restored textile mill with some fellow designers and engineers, where he worked for two years patterning and building prototypes of his first proprietary airbeam-supported tents. In 2004, he launched the brand, and it quickly began winning awards for design and innovation. NEMO was the overall winner of the ISPO Brand New award in 2005 and its designs were among the 100 best inventions of the year awarded by TIME and Popular Science. These kicked off a string of awards and accolades that have only continued since then.
For two decades, as NEMO's team has grown, they have actively lived out the belief that intelligently designed gear enables the adventures that make us all our best selves: humans who are conscious, inspired, connected, and mindful. The sticker in their conference room captures their ethos: “Design Like You Give a Damn.” And NEMO Equipment does just that.
