Mella Pet Care Update | Shark Tank Season 15
Entrepreneurs Ben Seidman, Anya Babbitt, and Daniella Morgan-Pascualvaca pitched their pet care products during
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to Mella Pet Care after
Ben Seidman, Anya Babbitt, and Daniella Morgan-Pascualvaca appeared on
| Shark: | Result: |
| Mark Cuban | Accepted deal for $250,000 for 6% equity |
| Daymond John | No offer |
| Lori Greiner | No offer |
| Kevin O’Leary | No offer |
| Daniel Lubetzky | No offer |
Shark Tank Mella Pet Care Update
- Entrepreneurs: Ben Seidman, Anya Babbitt, and Daniella Morgan-Pascualvaca
- Business: Connected pet care devices
- Ask:Â $250,000 for 2.5% equity
- Result:Â $250,000 for 6% equity
- Shark:Â Mark Cuban
Because vet visits can be traumatic for pets, Ben Seidman, Anya Babbitt, and Daniella Moran-Pascualvaca came together to create a better path. Their Mella Pet Care products are making it easier for pets during wellness checks and sick visits at the vet.
Their first product, The Mella Pro Smart Thermometer, takes temperatures painlessly, under the foreleg. It uses smart technology to ensure accurate readings. Data is then shared to an app, which can be used to track your pet’s health, and even shared with your vet.
This means that even if the vet doesn’t have The Mella Pro Smart Thermometer, you can share the readings without having your pet traumatized by old-fashioned methods in the office.
They also offer The Biggie Pro Scale, which allows you to monitor your pet’s weight. Similarly to the thermometer, all data connects to your app, and can also be shared with your vet.
Additionally, the founders are working on more products to launch within the Mella Pet Care brand. They want to offer smart products that help pets live longer and more comfortably.
Further, they’ve taken millions of data points from various breeds, which take into account the breed, gender, weight, hair type, and hair length of the pet. This is what makes their devices stand out.
In terms of sales, they’ve sold over 2,500 units, which equates to around $160,000 in revenue. This has been done with essentially no cost of marketing.
Further, their products are already in over 1,000 veterinary clinics, and they’ve managed to do this within their first year of business.
They sell directly to vets, but also directly to consumers through their website. In terms of acquiring a vet, they bring their products to trade shows, but also through word of mouth from customers.
On average, their customer acquisition cost is around $4. The Mella Pro thermometer costs $40 to manufacture and then retails for $159.
Mark Cuban wants to know if there’s any competition. The founders are adamant that nobody else is doing what they are doing, especially in terms of data collecting, and then sharing that data with vets.
However, Mark seems unsatisfied with their answer. For him, the numbers aren’t adding up, and he says they should be selling much more product.
Anya insists that they wanted to first test the products with the vets before going further with home-based consumers. Kevin O’Leary matches Mark’s concern about the low sales.
Ben reiterates that they’ve only done a soft launch so far. Additionally, they intend to hit $500,000 in sales by the end of the year and be cash-flow positive.
Lori Greiner chimes in to say that it’s just too soon for her to invest. So for that reason, she’s out.
Kevin thinks the company is more of a device company, than a data company. This doesn’t interest him, so he’s out too.
With that, Daymond John bows out too. He doesn’t know how he could help the company.
Mark offers $250,000 for 6% equity. At this point, guest shark Daniel Lubetzky says he doesn’t like the valuation. He adds that his offer would have been worse than Mark’s, so he’s out too. With no other offers on the table, Mark presses for an answer.
Anya counters him for $350,000 for 6% equity, but Mark isn’t interested in that. He says that he doesn’t care how the equity is structured, even if it’s in advisory shares.
Ben asks if they can bring Mark’s company, Cost Plus Drugs into the deal, and Mark seems to agree. With that, the founders accept Mark’s offer of $250,000 for 6% equity.
What happened following
In our Mella Pet Care update, we found that the company seems to be doing well after
They have plans to launch a pet bowl scale, a chip reader, and a pulse oximeter. You can learn more, and even shop for gadgets on the Mella Pet Care website.
Once the dust settles, we will circle back for another Mella Pet Care update to see what’s been going on since
In the meantime, you can check out our other company updates from Season 15 Episode 16 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!
