BabyQuip Baby Gear Rental Update | Shark Tank Season 11
Fran Maier and Joe Maier pitched their vacation baby gear rental company during
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to BabyQuip after
Fran Maier and Joe Maier appeared on
| Shark: | Result: |
| Kevin O’Leary | $500,000 for a 20% equity |
| Lori Greiner | No offer |
| Mark Cuban | No offer |
| Robert Herjavec | No offer |
| Katrina Lake | No offer |
Shark Tank BabyQuip Update
- Entrepreneurs: Fran Maier and Joe Maier
- Business: Vacation baby gear rental
- Ask: $500,000 for 5% equity
- Result: No Deal
- Shark: None
Of all the extravagant pitches that the sharks see in every episode, it’s rare that they see a live barn animal. Fran and Joe Maier of BabyQuip brought in a live “pack mule” to illustrate what traveling parents and grandparents feel like when traveling with babies.
Their baby gear rental service will make this process easier. Parents can call ahead and order strollers, car seats, and even consumables to be ready when they arrive at their destination.
It beats traveling with cumbersome equipment, and a bag full of heavy baby food jars. New airport baggage standards sometimes make travel impossible, especially when you need a lot of gear at your destination.
BabyQuip offers parents affordable prices and convenience on their vacation, or when sending their kids to grandma’s house. Plus, their ‘quality providers’ are often parents in their network who have spare baby gear.
Since starting in 2016, BabyQuip has done about $3.7 million in sales, but it’s not profitable yet. They need a shark’s help to get to that point, as well as to help them scale.
The sharks get a little more invested when they find out that Fran Maier is the founder of Match.com and has had previous success with service businesses.
Robert Herjavec is the first shark to drop out. He thinks that the corporate support needed for a company like BabyQuip is a nightmare, and he doesn’t want to deal with it.
Lori Greiner just really doesn’t understand what they’re offering, so she drops out also.
Mark Cuban has a little more to say on the issue, but because they’re going to need lots of capital, he’s out too.
Likewise, guest shark Katrina Lake is also out, stating that she just doesn’t think the market is big enough.
This eventually leaves the entrepreneurs with Kevin O’Leary. He makes the entrepreneurs the only offer they’ll get: $500,000 for a 20% equity.
The Maiers try to counter with a convertible note deal, but unfortunately, Kevin declines.
The equity ask is just too much for the entrepreneurs, and if they take Kevin’s deal, their own stake in the company would decrease too much, so they decline Kevin’s offer. In 2023, they are making about $9 million annually through the BabyQuip website.
What happened following
We have great news to share in our BabyQuip update. As it turns out, turning down a deal from the sharks was probably the best thing the entrepreneurs could have done for their company.
Further, BabyQuip didn’t really see much decline from the pandemic. Instead, they actually used it to their advantage.
Our research also found that they acquired Tot Squad, right before the lockdowns started. Tot Squad works with Uber to provide sanitized car seats.
Additionally, they now offer party equipment rentals for babies in select cities throughout America and Canada.
This purchase really took BabyQuip’s sales to the top!
You can find the other company updates from Season 11 Episode 14 here:
For even more on companies and products, be sure to stop by our Season 11 products page!
Andrew Smith is the founder and owner of Shark Tank Recap. He is a longtime Shark Tank fan that has been watching it for years and has seen every episode multiple times. His friends know him as the Shark Tank expert, because he can answer any question about the show! His favorite Shark Tank products are Bertello's pizza oven and Bug Bite Thing!