Radiate
Radiate is a company from San Diego, CA, the promises to bring the romance and atmosphere of a campfire wherever you are.
The entrepreneur has a created a tin will a wax-like material that can be set alight to help create a campfire experience for up to six hours. It even comes in different scents including a mosquito repelling variety.
When the sharks compared it to Instafire from Season Seven, the entrepreneur described the purpose of Radiate to be entirely different. Instafire is used to create a whole new fire. Radiate is used to bring some of the "camping experience", even to places where full campfires may not be allowed. It can be extinguished by simply replacing the lid on the can containing the fire.
A single unit of Radiate costs $5.75 to produce, $12.50 at wholesale and $25 at retail. Each unit, though, is substantial, weighing in a 4 pounds. Each item costs $9.50 to ship or $13 for two.
In the thirty days that Radiate has been shipping product, they have moved 1,100 units, with approximately 600 being sold through camping, sporting, and other traditional retail stores. The rest, presumably, have been sold online direct to consumer.
This deal aired on Episode 9.21.
Making A Deal
Robert jumped on this deal, not only offering Radiate more money but actually adding to the business' market cap.
While the entrepreneur had originally asked for only $50,000 in exchange for 20% of the business, Robert invested $100,000 for 25% adding $150,000 to the value of the business.
This is an unusually generous deal for a shark to make and one of only a handful where the sharks don't take a substantial bite from the value. It was a no-brainer for the entrepreneur to accept and bring Robert on as an investor.
Updates
The seventh episode of Season Eleven featured a short update on Radiate. In it, the entrepreneurs stated that within a month of making their deal, Robert got them an appearance on The View. Additionally, their products are now sold in Bed, Bath & Beyond and "1,000 retailers." They have also received a deal with Night Light Events, an event company that specializes in floating candle lanterns. The entrepreneurs stated that they only had $16,000 in sales when they made their deal but in the eighteen months since have made $2,100,000 in retail sales and had over 1,000 units sold.[1]
Notes
- ↑ You kinda gotta love the way businesses spin their numbers. In the Episode 11.07 update, they stated that they had $2,100,000 in retail sales and 1,000 units sold. That doesn't sound too shabby except for what we know from their deal. Retail sales mean that they've been selling at a wholesale price which is $12.50 (or was at the time of the original airing). Assuming this number holds true and they've moved a thousand units, this translates only into $12,500 of sales the company booked. Additionally, at a cost to produce of $5.75 per item, or $5,750, this means only a net profit of $6,750. To be perfectly honest, considering that they claim to have moved 1,100 units in the month that they were selling, this actually sounds like a slowdown if this is really all they've achieved over eighteen months.