Embraco was founded in Joinville, located in the Southern region of Brazil, in 1971. It was founded to supply the Brazilian refrigeration industry with compressors which at that time relied on imported compressors. Aspera, an Italian compressor manufacturer, was acquired by Whirlpool in 1984. In 1997, Whirlpool acquired majority stake in Embraco. Nidec Corp., a Japanese manufacturer of electric motors, acquired Embraco from Whirlpool in 2018.