Neuro Gum Update | Shark Tank Season 11
Sometimes, you just need a little boost. Focus, clarity, and alertness are all properties that Neuro Gum claims to boost. With as much caffeine as half a cup of coffee, these mints and gums will give you just enough to keep going. Will the sharks love these supplements? Find out in our
Shark Tank Neuro Gum Update
- Entrepreneur: Kent Yoshimura and Ryan Chen
- Business: Caffeinated gum and mints
- Ask: $750,000 for 5% equity
- Result: No deal
- Shark: None
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 and repeat buyers. A pack of gum retails for $3.99 and only costs the pair $0.67 to make. To answer guest shark Daniel Lubetzky’s question about distribution, they say that this is the part they need help with.
However, he thinks they might quickly grow themselves out of business. He is inspired by them, but it’s not a product he can relate to. He’s 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. He says that sampling is very too risky with those claims. He drops out, too.
Lori Greiner doesn’t believe it’s an investable business for her, so she’s out.
Though Robert Herjavec 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. They decline Kevin’s deal as well and walk away without a shark. Was this a good idea for the company? Keep reading our
Neuro Gum happens to be one of those companies that do extremely well even without a
According to our Neuro Gum update research, annual revenue as of 2021 was $6 million, which far exceeds the numbers they brought to
You can find the other company updates from Season 11 Episode 19 here:
Don’t forget to take a look at our Season 11 products page! We’ve got more company updates from
