Guest Shark Bethenny Frankel joined Lori Greiner, Mark Cuban, Daymond John and Robert Herjavec in the Shark Tank to evaluate four businesses seeking strategic business partners and investors. Adventure Hunt, Uniform, Pristine and Aquapaw all came to the Sharks with the hope of receiving financial support to help them expand and grow, however, only two companies left with deal from the Sharks.
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Adventure Hunt Wins Over Robert Herjavec and Bethenny Frankel
Brothers, Jared and Sean Bingham, entered the Shark Tank seeking $150,000 in exchange for 10% of their business, Adventure Hunt. This entertainment service allows players to partner up with 2-4 friends and compete against other teams through various cities across the United States. Whichever team completes their adventure first, will find a valuable treasure that is worth competing for! Since launching 18 months ago, Adventure Hunt has seen $769,000 in sales as they usually have approximately 300 participants at each adventure.
Adventure Hunt is looking for a partner that can help them with their marketing as they have primarily been using social media (Facebook and Instagram) to advertise their service. Bethenny offers $150,000 for a 25% share of their company, with some conditions. She would like to see them move into corporate team building events, social campaigns and incorporate a dating service aspect. Robert Herjavec also makes them an offer for $150,000 for 25% of the company because he feels that there is a lot of potential business in the enterprise and corporate space for team building exercises. This is an area that can desperately use fresh ideas. He also would like to use his investment to hire corporate sales specialists that could help them break into this market. Upon countering, both Bethenny and Robert drop their equity percentage to 20%. Jared and Sean chose to partner with Robert and accepted his offer.
Very excited to partner with the Adventure Hunt team ! Can’t wait to see where our partnership will take us @adventurehuntco #SharkTank
— Robert Herjavec (@robertherjavec) January 14, 2019
Uniform Showcases Thier Honorable Mission, Goes Home Empty-Handed
Best friends Adam Butlein and Chid Liberty came into the Shark Tank seeking $300,000 for 10% of their business, Uniform. Uniform is an ethical clothing company that designs streetwear style clothing that is 100% made in Africa. They hope to reshape the fashion industry with minimalist hip hop inspired clothing. Not only does Uniform provide consumers with quality apparel, but they also donate school uniforms to children in Africa. That’s not all that makes Uniform a unique and socially responsible company; Uniform is dedicated to helping thousands of women in Africa be gainfully employed in safe factories across the continent. Purchasing clothing from Uniform is a win for the consmer and for women and children in Africa.
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Adam and Chid are looking for a business partner that can help them take their business to the next level. They are currently entering retail and they need the help of a Shark that can help guide them through this process and ensure their supply chain is secure in the event of a natural or humanitarian crisis–such as an Ebola outbreak in Africa. Although the Sharks feel very strongly about Uniform’s mission, they are concerned with the competitive nature of the clothing business as well as the process of retailing a line of products that strongly resembles other lines already in the market. The Sharks decline to extend Uniform an offer.
Nowadays you shouldn’t have a company that is not contributing in some way to a cause, because the people today who buy a product want to know what you’re doing to make a positive change in this world. #SharkTank
— Daymond John (@TheSharkDaymond) January 14, 2019
Love seeing entrepreneurs cause social change and provide local jobs to those in need #SharkTank
— Robert Herjavec (@robertherjavec) January 14, 2019
Pristine Hesitantly Agree To A Contingent Deal With Lori Greiner
Jessica and Brandon, cousins from Dallas, launched their business, Pristine, while discussing their family’s bathroom habits over dinner. They recognized that the only two cleansing options for bathroom use are traditional toilet paper and wet wipes. Because wet wipes can be irritating and toilet paper doesn’t always finish the job, they developed another way. Pristine is a cleansing spray that is applied to toilet paper and helps wipe your #2 away. Because they are a start-up business trying to enter a multi-billon dollar industry, Pristine is looking for $50,000 and a business partner that can help them extend and grow their line in the market in exchange for 20% equity in their company.
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Because Lori Greiner has already invested with Squatty Potty, she extends a contingent offer to Jessica and Brandon to ensure there is not a conflict of interest. Lori offers Pristine $50,000 for a 25% share of their company as long as Squatty Potty is not already working on their own version of a hygienic cleansing spray. If they are already developing a similar product, as there are approximately 10 competitive products on the market, then she will not make a deal with Pristine. Although they are hesitant, they lack any additional offers from the remaining Sharks and Pristine accepts Lori’s contingent deal.
Very valuable lesson here from @LoriGreiner – over the years, we’ve invested in lots of businesses so even if an idea is great, we have to consider the partners we already have before we can add another to the list #SharkTank
— Robert Herjavec (@robertherjavec) January 14, 2019
Aquapaw Walks Away From Multiple Offers
Owners of Aquapaw, Dan and Tom, entered the Shark Tank in hopes of securing $200,000 for a 7.5% share of their company. Their flagship product is a bathing tool for dogs that can connect to a garden hose or indoor shower and can be powered on and off with one hand. Although the product was successful on Kickstarter and they have launched into discussions with several big box retailers, they are looking for a business partner that will financially support them to help diversify and grow their product line.
Extra points for bringing a dog to the pitch #SharkTank pic.twitter.com/8EDyVqxF8p
— Shark Tank (@ABCSharkTank) January 14, 2019
While the Sharks are interested in their product, they are concerned about the valuation of the company. Because they feel their valuation is inflated, they make several offers with higher percentages of equity at stake. Robert Herjavec, Daymond John and Bethenny Frankel put out identical offers for $200,000 in exchange for a 30% share in their company. As they begin to counter, they initially excluded Robert and continually counter with Daymond which cause Bethenny and Robert to rescind their offers. Daymond’s offer was left but Aquapaw declined his offer, citing that they do not want to surrender that much equity, and they left the Shark Tank with no deal.
Between being on the board for the @petcofoundation and working with my #SharkTank partner @TurboPUPs, I know the work it takes to be in the pet industry. It takes serious passion and hustle! #SharkTank
— Daymond John (@TheSharkDaymond) January 14, 2019
What was your favorite business on this episode of Shark Tank? How did you feel about the business investments and the products mentioned? Would you purchase any of these products or services? Leave your comments below!
Shark Tank airs Sunday at 9:00 EST on ABC.