Breathometer Smartphone Breathalyzer Update | Shark Tank Season 5
Drinking alcohol brings with it risks of whether or not one is safe to drive. Breathalyzers are helpful in determining this, but they’re also bulky to carry around. That’s why Charles Michael Yim has created a product that he says is the world’s first smartphone breathalyzer. Will his product become the toast of
Shark Tank Breathometer Update
- Entrepreneur: Charles Michael Yim
- Business: Smartphone breathalyzer
- Ask: $250,000 in exchange for 10% equity
- Result: $1,000,000 in exchange for 30% equity
- Sharks: Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John and Kevin O’Leary
Charles developed Breathometer, a breathalyzer that plugged into the user’s mobile phone via a headphone jack when the user wished to know their blood alcohol level. The user was to then blow into the device, where a sensor in the mouthpiece analyzed their blood alcohol level. The blood alcohol level would display on the user’s phone, via the company’s mobile app.
Breathometer had completed a successful Indiegogo campaign earlier that year, selling 4,000 devices within 30 days. The campaign generated $140,000 in revenue. Charles had invested $50,000 of his own money to get the company started, and later raised $500,000 from angel investors. Given that Charles already had so much money behind Breathometer, Daymond John wondered what he was planning to do with the $250,000. Charles replied that he intended to put 100% of the investment into manufacturing.
Surprisingly, Mark Cuban went all in, right away, offering $500,000 in exchange for 20% of the company. Kevin O’Leary followed right up, and offered $250,000 for 15%. At that point, Charles cut to the chase, telling the sharks his goal was to raise one-million dollars within 60 days. Kevin proposed that Charles have the sharks go in for the full million, but Mark balked, refusing to collaborate with any other sharks.
Robert Herjavec teamed up with Kevin, for a total investment of $500,000 between the two. Lori Greiner said to count her in, too, and together the three offered a grand total of $750,000 for a 30% stake. Iced out by Mark, and wanting nothing to do with the team of three, Daymond John offered a solitary investment of $250,000 in exchange for 10% equity. After some back and forth between the sharks, Daymond said he would invest in Breathometer if Mark did, and he eventually agreed.
The five sharks offered a deal of $1,000,000 in exchange for 30% equity, with $500,000 coming from Mark for 15% equity, and $125,000 each from Lori, Robert, Daymond and Kevin, who would divide the remaining 15% equity among themselves. Charles accepted the generous offer– an investment four times what he had asked for. What happened next for this company? Keep reading our Breathometer update to find out!
Research for our Breathometer update found that in 2017, the Federal Trade Commission ruled that the Breathometer device was found to be “seriously inaccurate” in its blood alcohol content analysis. The FTC determined the company had sold over $5 million worth of the devices, and ordered Breathometer to offer a full refund to everyone who had ever bought one. Due to these issues, it’s not surprising to learn that the company is no longer in business. This will be our final Breathometer update.
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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!