'Shark Tank' Recap: 'Beard King,' 'Fixed,' 'Hatch Baby' & 'Village Scholarships'
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In another special episode of ABC's Shark Tank, tech investor Chris Sacca returns to hear pitches from Beard King, Fixed, Hatch Baby and Village Scholarships who are hoping to snap a deal with Sacca, Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner or Robert Herjavec.
Sacca, Cuban, Herjavec, O'Leary and Greiner are approached by four new companies in season seven. They will have to weed through a couple of pitches in order to choose which company they will invest in.
About Fixed
Parking tickets can be an absolute nuisance and fighting a simple parking ticket can be a hassle, that's why David Hegarty created Fixed. Fixed is an app designed to help you fight parking tickets with ease.
Fixed agents will be able to tell you what your chances of beating the ticket will be and even prepare the necessary documents needed.
If that's not enough, the company will also mail it to the department associated with processing it.
"It's fine to say we live in a democracy and that we have rights... but your rights begin and end in your ability to access help to preserve them." - Fixed
The Ask: $700,000 for 5% equity.
How it went down: Hegarty uses his pitch to express his frustration against being "screwed over by the man." He makes the process seem extremely simple and the sharks are pretty quiet as Hegarty pitches.
The application is free but if you win the contests they charge a 35% fee. Hegarty will use the investment to expand in as many cities as they can. The success rate is 20-30% of contests.
They look for small issues to try to win the contests. O'Leary knows that it is a major source of income for the police. Herjavec says that the sales must be phenomenal but Hegarty has only made $80,000 in the year.
The numbers are actually pretty small and the actual business seems expensive. Hegarty doesn't seem to be making a case and the sharks continue to push. Herjavec is not buying the scale and pulls out. O'Leary says he doesn't want to invest in a business that goes to war with government revenue and pulls out.
Greiner says she doesn't think Hegarty is there yet so she pulls out. Sacca says placing a bet on the business is placing a bet against Uber and pulls out.
Cuban loves the idea of kicking the government in the ass but offers the $700,000 for 7% and Hegarty takes it.
About Hatch Baby
When you're a new parent the word cautious is an understatement. In order to alleviate cautiousness and stress, with the Hatch Baby smart changing pad and app.
Hatch Baby like a FitBit gives you statistics on your baby such as their weight, sleep patterns, how much waste they produce and how much food they eat.
All of the stats are also transferred to an app, so, for the working parent who has a babysitter on hand, there is a way to stay connected through push notifications.
"As a new parent, I really wanted to breastfeed my daughter, Maya, but was very worried about her weight gain. I couldn't tell how much breast milk she was getting, and I was worried about whether I was producing enough.
After way too many trips to the doctor to weigh her, I realized that this was a problem that could (and should) be addressed with technology and smart design.
Hatch Baby was born out of that experience.
Our mission is to bring parents a series of smart products that use technology, data, and modern design to help make caring for a baby a lot easier." - Ann Crady Weiss, Founder & CEO of Hatch Baby
The Ask: $250,000 for 2.5% equity.
How it went down: The ask is pretty stiff but the pitch is very straight forward and simple. The fact that the product comes with an app really looks to push towards the tech side of things.
Hatch has not sold any of the products because they are in pre-sales.
The pitch from Dave and Ann Crady Weiss shows how skilled they are in the business and there is a lot of interest but also questions. O'Leary wants to know if he can can more value out of the Hatch Baby.
Cuban doesn't know if their device will win amongst the competition.
Cuban pulls out of the deal. Herjavec says past success is not an indicator for future success and pulls out. Greiner says not everyone across America can afford an expensive changing table and pulls out. O'Leary pulls out for the same reason as Greiner.
Sacca is left and he likes the platform but says it's relatively short-term. He says it is over-valued and pulls out of the deal. Weiss makes one last attempt to get a shark on her side.
Sacca says he will do the $250,000 for the convertible note and the Weiss family comes through at the end. Learn more about the convertible note here.
About Village Scholarships
Being able to afford a college education is not in the cards for many students. That's why Tasha and Antonio Adams came up with the idea for Village Scholarships.
Village Scholarships offers a way for students who are looking for available scholarships to find and sign up for the right scholarship for them.
Three aspects of Village Scholarships include starting a campaign, collecting and matching funds as well as the final step which involves having the scholarship money go towards the school of choice.
"Today more than 20 million families are struggling to identify how to pay for a college education and Village Scholarships seeks to change that." - Village Scholarships
The Ask: $125,000 for 10% equity.
How it went down: The pitch is a bit over-the-top but the enthusiasm and explanation is very positive. The cause is also pretty wonderful. However, Village Scholarships is just a concept.
The sharks are also very surprised when they hear how much the processing fees are. Sacca says they aren't really bringing much for those who sign up.
Herjavec doesn't believe in the matching funds aspect of the business. O'Leary says the 8% fee is too much and the company competes with other investments he has so he pulls out.
Herjavec pulls out because he is not sure how it will work so he pulls out. Greiner wants to integrate Village Scholarships with her other investments but because it is too young, she pulls out.
Sacca sees multiple platforms within the one app but he doesn't think they can tackle all four and pulls out.
Cuban says they came too early with their pitch and pulls out. Village Scholarships goes home without a deal from the sharks.
About Beard King
If you've ever wondered how you can prevent a messy sink after shaving, Nicholas and Alessia Galekovic's Beard King could be your solution. Beard King is a way to catch shavings before they have the chance to hit the floor or fall all over the sink.
Instead of trying to clean every little bit of hair from your bathroom sink, the Beard King's bib feature allows you to attach and detach the invention making clean up much easier.
"The fact is grooming facial hair can be a very messy and time consuming task. Imagine all those tiny little hairs all over your sink, the counter, your clothes, the soap, toothbrush eventually clogging the drains.
It's safe to say that facial hair isn't going anywhere but growing everywhere. With a great beard comes great responsibility!" - Beard King
The Ask: $100,000 for 20% equity.
How it went down: Sacca begins to relate to the product immediately and when the Galekovic's pull up an old photo of O'Leary things get even better. The beard-bib comes into play and the sharks begin laughing a lot.
They have sold $140,000 in sales over eight months and did $80,000 in one month alone after their video went viral.
The product costs $7.00 and they sell the product for $29.000. It is patent pending. Herjavec doesn't think the company is a joke anymore. The Galekovic's can't keep up with their demands.
The projection for the next year is $400,000. They have been approached by wholesale distributors.
Herjavec says they are doing great and that they make enough to bootstrap the business. He doesn't know how he can accelerate the business and pulls out.
Cuban says they have an ability to create content and he would be interested in that but he doesn't see it in the beard-bib. Cuban pulls out. O'Leary says it's not a company it's a product. O'Leary pulls out of the deal after not being able to tell how he can get his money back.
Sacca pulls out of the deal as well. Greiner likes the idea that women would be happy with the product.
She doesn't know how well it would do and before she has a chance of pulling out Nicholas asks her to make them an offer.
Greiner offers the cash for 51% of the company. The Galekovic's counter with 45% of the company along with a crown and a robe. Greiner has to go with it after that and agrees for a deal of 100,000 for 45% equity.