BarBees Mobile Cocktail Class Update | Shark Tank Season 15
Best friends Jess Blakley and Willow Sprague, pitched their cocktail company during
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to BarBees after
Jess Blakley and Willow Sprague appeared on
| Shark: | Result: |
| Daniel Lubetzky | Accepted deal for $75,000 for 20% equity |
| Mark Cuban | No offer |
| Lori Greiner | No offer |
| Daymond John | No offer |
| Kevin O’Leary | No offer |
Shark Tank BarBees Update
- Entrepreneurs: Jess Blakley and Willow Sprague
- Business: Mobile cocktail class
- Ask: $75,000 for 10% equity
- Result: $75,000 for 20% equity
- Shark: Daniel Lubetzky
Friends and business partners, Jess Blakley and Willow Sprague, created a business that leads groups in cocktail-making classes. An instructor from BarBees arrives at your space to lead a class on how to be your own mixologist.
You provide the liquor and the location, and BarBees provides the rest. Their classes are marketed towards birthday celebrations, bachelorette parties, and corporate team-building events.
The ladies get things started by sharing some of their most popular drinks with the sharks. They sample their Rosemary Honey Paloma and Strawberry Oldfashioned.
The company launched in 2019, in Nashville, Tennessee as an event bartending company. While it was just Jess and Willow back then, they have already grown to a team of 25.
In 2019, they grossed $19,000 in revenue. During 2020 they transitioned to virtual classes during the pandemic and grossed $38,000.
Then, in 2021, they went back to in-person classes, grossing $76,000. Then, in 2022, they expanded to 4 cities and grossed just under $190,000.
During the current year of filming, they project that they will end the year with $400,000 in sales. Further, they are now in 7 cities.
In terms of an investment, the ladies know exactly what they will use it for. They want to spend $20,000 on an automated booking platform.
Additionally, they will spend $20,000 on enhanced onboarding, so they can bring people on quickly as they grow. Lastly, they would spend the remainder of the investment on expanding to even more cities, because it takes about $5,000 to get established in each city.
Mark Cuban thinks the ladies have done really well, and they’re true entrepreneurs. However, he thinks that the business will ultimately be too hard to scale, so for that reason, he is out.
Daymond John loves the idea behind the business, however he doesn’t want to be in the service industry. For that reason, he is also out.
Kevin O’Leary thinks that Jess and Willow are the real deal. However, as a wine connoisseur, he can’t get behind the mixed drink-based company, so he is also out.
Guest shark Daniel Lubetzky has already set up systems that BarBees can benefit from. He makes them an offer of $75,000 for 20% equity.
With that, Lori Greiner compliments the offer from Daniel and says it’s ultimately better than what she can do. She eventually drops out, but not before advising the ladies to take his deal.
At this point, Willow counters Daniel for $75,000 for 15%, but he warns he may go up to 25%. She then counters again for $115,000 and 20% equity, however Daniel will not budge.
Finally, the duo accepts Daniels’s offer and leaves
We have great news to share in our BarBees update. The company seems to finally be expanding on a larger scale, since their time on the show. They are now available in ten cities and have nationwide classes available.
Browsing their website reveals that they are also booking online, allowing them to do virtual classes anywhere in the world. It appears that Daniel has already been able to help Willow and Jess meet some of their initial company goals.
To book a class or learn more about the company, head over to the BarBees website.
Once the dust settles, we will circle back for a more detailed BarBees update to see what Willow and Jess are up to!
In the meantime, you can check out our other company updates from Season 15 Episode 12, by following the links below!
For even more on companies and products, be sure to stop by our Season 15 Products Page before you go!
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!
