Neuro Gum Update | Shark Tank Season 11
Kent Yoshimura and Ryan Chen pitched their gum and mint company during
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to Neuro after
Kent Yoshimura and Ryan Chen appeared on
| Shark: | Result: |
| Robert Herjavec | $1 million for 14% equity |
| Kevin O’Leary | $750,000 at 5% equity plus a $0.50/unit royalty until $1 million is paid back |
| Mark Cuban | No offer |
| Lori Greiner | No offer |
| Daniel Lubetzky | No offer |
Shark Tank Neuro Update
- Entrepreneurs: Kent Yoshimura and Ryan Chen
- Business: Caffeinated gum and mints
- Ask: $750,000 for 5% equity
- Result: No deal
- Shark: None
Founders of Neuro, Kent Yoshimura and Ryan Chen, met as student-athletes in college. They were both looking for something to give them just a little boost and, as Ryan says, you can’t really put coffee in your pocket.
After mixing supplements in his kitchen, Kent found the perfect formula. This blend of natural caffeine, L-theanine, and vitamins is what would eventually become Neuro Gum.
They also make mints! They are vegan, sugar-free, and take about 5-10 minutes to kick in.
They’ve been in business for four years and have $3.5 million in sales in the year of filming. They’ve also just entered retail and have been extremely popular in CVS.
In the year before filming, they did $1.5 million in sales online and on Amazon only. They get lots of subscription customers, as well as repeat buyers.
A pack of gum retails for $3.99 and only costs the pair $0.67 to make. While the margins are good, they need help with distribution.
Guest shark Daniel Lubetzky thinks they might quickly grow themselves out of business. He is inspired by them, but it’s not a product he can relate to, so for that reason, he is out.
Kevin O’Leary wants to know what they’re going to do with the money. They say they’re going to use it for marketing, but Kevin is confused about why they are pushing for retail when they have a proven model.
Robert Herjavec notes that the value and equity may be too low for him to take the risk. After this, they mention that they go to lots of shows and do a lot of sampling because they want to connect with people.
Mark Cuban responds to this immediately. Neuro is a supplement company with claims of clarity and focus, and because the claims make him uncomfortable, he is out.
Though Robert has discussed his concerns earlier, he decides to make a big offer. He would give them $1 million for 20% equity.
Kevin also wants to make an offer. He thinks that the valuation is “stinky poo poo,” but he offers them $750,000 at 5% equity plus a $0.50/unit royalty until he recoups $1 million.
The entrepreneurs clearly don’t want to go with this, because they decide to counter Robert’s offer instead.
They ask Robert if he’ll do his deal for 10% equity instead, but Robert says he’ll do it 14% at the lowest. The entrepreneurs say they can’t do that deal.
Further, they decline Kevin’s deal too and walk away from
Was this a good idea for the company? We were able to catch up with Kent and Ryan for an official Neuro update to find out.
Ryan and Kent told us that things have been going great since
This isn’t the end for Neuro though, they’re just getting started. “We’ve expanded from our Energy and Focus product into a Clam and Clarity and soon to come SLEEP product,” Ryan and Kent told us.
The duo credits their time on
They went on to tell us, “Having the opportunity to present on one of the most popular reality shows in America and talk about our dreams of starting a company is something that we’ll always remember.”
Our Neuro update research also found that the gum has received a promotion from podcaster and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. After Rogan talked about the gum, the website’s traffic grew 20x and sales skyrocketed, according to the Neuro Gum TikTok.
Neuro can now be found in retail stores like Whole Foods, CVS, Walmart, Meijer, Target, and dozens of other big-name retailers. Further, you can also find it online on the Neuro website.
It looks like the future is bright for Kent and Ryan’s company, and we can’t wait to see where our next Neuro Gum update takes us.
You can find the other company updates from Season 11 Episode 19 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!