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Four businesses, ZuGoPet, Obvious Wines, Twist It Up Comb and MontiKids, entered the Shark Tank to pitch their products in hopes of landing financial support and a long-term business partner. Sharks Robert Herjavec, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Daymond John, and Kevin O’Leary evaluated each business and left with three new partnerships and investments.
ZuGoPet
Carolyn Shewfelt and Juls Bindi enter the Shark Tank in hopes of obtaining $100,000 for a 10% share in their company, ZuGoPet. Their signature patented product, The Rocketeer Pack, secures your pet while they are riding in a vehicle so that they would safely remain in place in the event of a car accident. Unlike other pet tethers and carriers, The Rocketeer Pack passed crash tests and is developed to specifically align your pet’s spine to prevent injury. This product can also double as a wearable pet carrier.
Comfort and safety are key! #ZuGoPet #SharkTank pic.twitter.com/9NvB0KujYD
— Shark Tank (@ABCSharkTank) January 28, 2019
.@kevinolearytv is the dog dad we never knew we needed #SharkTank pic.twitter.com/n32K8Svb6s
— Shark Tank (@ABCSharkTank) January 24, 2019
Although the Sharks are sympathetic to the cause and purpose of the product they and are impressed with the product’s margins, they are concerned about the volume of sales ($180,000) relative to the $80 billion pet industry. All of the Sharks comment that they feel that there are additional design changes that need to happen to make this a simpler, easier to use the product. They also think that product marketing is not adequate to appropriately sell the product. The Sharks do not make ZuGoPet an offer.
Obvious Wines Win Over Lori Greiner
Brice Baillie is seeking an investment of $150,000 in exchange for 5% of his company Obvious Wines. The driving strategy behind Obvious Wines is that drinking wine is easy, casual and fun so picking a wine in the store should be the same. Deciding which wine to purchase or pair can be an in intimidating task, especially if you are not familiar with the nuance of wine selection. The labels on Obvious Wines contain simple, straightforward, educational information such as where it was made, what to pair it with, etc.
Will the sharks be biting for Obvious Wines? #SharkTank #ObviousWines
— Shark Tank (@ABCSharkTank) January 28, 2019
Although the company is very new and just getting on its feet, all of the Sharks enjoy the taste of the wine and Lori decides to make Brice an offer. Lori offers $150,000 for a 12.5% share of his company. After countering back and forth they agreed to an investment of $160,000 for 12.5% equity in Obvious Wines.
Twist It Up Comb Secures A Deal With Daymond John and Mark Cuban
Entrepreneur Noel Durity presented his company, Twist It Up Comb, to the Shark Tank in hopes of securing $225,000 in exchange for 15% equity. The patent-pending Twist It Up Comb is a hair accessory for afro-centric hair that allows the user to embrace their natural hair without harsh chemicals or painful hair picks. Noel has priced the product well and has given himself a nice margin on the product and has seen a steady increase in sales, but his main struggle is his raw material supply chain being unreliable.
Is this a new twist on hair combs? #SharkTank
— Shark Tank (@ABCSharkTank) January 28, 2019
Because the company is still growing, some of the Sharks are nervous that the back end of the business may not be well organized as Noel just hired someone to help with his accounting. Mark Cuban and Daymond John decide to put together a combined offer of $225,000 for 25% of Twist It Up Comb. Noel accepts his offer and is very happy to be in business with Mark and Daymond.
MontiKids Finds A New Investor In Kevin O’Leary
Harvard business school grad, Zahra Kassam, came to the Shark Tank in hopes of finding an investor for her birth-through-three at home education platform, MontiKids. Zahra is seeking $200,000 for 2.5% of her company which is a comprehensive learning program that is based on the Montessori schooling method. This subscription-based service would allow parents to enroll based on their child’s age. Every 3 months, they will receive a box of toys that are tailored to the child’s developmental stages with video tutorials on how to introduce the product and how to develop emerging skill sets with the child.
Will this product be a learning experience in the tank? #MontiKids #SharkTank
— Shark Tank (@ABCSharkTank) January 28, 2019
Although Zahra has an impressive resume, many of the Sharks are concerned that she doesn’t understand the value of the money that has already been and will be invested in the future into her business. The financial story of the company is very concerning. They are burning through cash too quickly and are losing money relative to their sales and spending. Although there are major concerns, Zahra does get offers from Robert and Kevin, however, Robert becomes very frustrated with her and backs out of his deal. Zahra makes a deal with Kevin O’Leary for $200,000 in exchange for a 2.5% stake in MonitKids as well as a royalty of $10 a unit until $200,000 is paid back. After the initial investment is repaid the royalty will drop to $2.50 per unit until $600,000 is paid and then the royalty will go away altogether.
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? Leave your comments below!
Shark Tank airs Sunday at 9:00 EST on ABC.