SoaPen Update | Shark Tank Season 13

Amanat Anand and Shubham Issar learned that 1.5 million children die each year from preventable diseases caused by poor hand washing. This problem pushed them to design SoaPen, a colorful soap pen that turned handwashing into play while ensuring kids scrubbed long enough. Will the sharks enjoy this clean deal? Read our SoaPen update and pitch recap to find out.

If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to SoaPen after Shark Tank.

Amanat and Shubham entered Shark Tank Season 13, seeking $100,000 for 10% equity in their soap pen business. After their pitch, they left with a deal from guest shark Nirav Tolia for $100,000 for 10% equity, plus $1/unit until $200,000 is repaid.

In terms of a SoaPen update, the company launched an Amazon storefront. Noticeably, recent signs, such as slow social media activity and multiple sold-out items online, suggest the business may be slowing down.

Shark:	Result:
Nirav Tolia	Accepted deal of $100,000 for 10% equity, plus $1/unit until $200,000
Lori Greiner	No Offer
Robert Herjavec	No Offer
Kevin O’Leary	No Offer
Mark Cuban	No Offer

Shark Tank SoaPen Pitch

• Entrepreneurs: Amanat Anand and Shubham Issar
• Business: Soap pen that encourages kids to wash their hands
• Ask: $100,000 for 10% equity
• Result: $100,000 for 10% equity, plus $1/unit until $200,000
• Shark: Nirav Tolia

Amanat and Shubham launched SoaPen right after graduating from college in response to devastating statistics about children catching diseases due to improper hand washing.

Each SoaPen contained pleasantly scented, kid-friendly hand soap that encouraged good hand hygiene.

Kids used the SoaPen to draw and write on their hands. Afterward, the soap took 30 seconds or more to fully disappear, ensuring they scrubbed long enough to be germ-free.

The idea impressed the sharks. Robert Herjavec wondered why no one had thought of it before, while Lori Greiner loved both the concept and the scents.

A pack of three SoaPens costs just over $4 to make, and they sell for $14.99 retail. The company had made $85,000 in lifetime sales since its 2019 launch.

However, they hadn’t spent a dime on marketing. Instead, a magazine article had triggered a sellout of all 5,000 units in just three weeks.

Meanwhile, the founders admitted they had been running ads on Amazon for two months but couldn’t provide any return on investment figures when Mark Cuban pressed on financials.

Kevin O’Leary didn’t think they understood sales. He said they needed to lower customer acquisition costs and do more marketing. In the end, he decided it was too early for them, so he bowed out.

Mark agreed. He thought they didn’t know how to sell it, though he didn’t believe they were necessarily too early. Still, it wasn’t an investment for him, so he dropped out as well.

Robert liked the product but didn’t see it as an investment. Lori acknowledged the duo had done a great job, but she, too, thought it was too early to invest, so she passed.

This left guest shark Nirav Tolia. He admired their energy but told them it was too soon for investment, and what they really needed were mentors.

Amanat and Shubham walked out of the tank without a deal.

However, during their post-pitch interview, Nirav admitted to the other sharks that he had made a mistake. He quickly ran out to catch the duo before they left.

On the spot, he offered them $100,000 for 10% equity plus a $1 per unit royalty until $200,000 was paid back.

This was a perfect deal because his wife was already working with several hand soap brands, and SoaPen could fit in seamlessly.

In the end, Amanat and Shubham accepted his unprecedented late deal.

With a deal in hand, let’s get a SoaPen update to see how the entrepreneurs are doing.

Shark Tank SoaPen Update

While doing our own due diligence for a SoaPen update, we have reasons to believe that the deal with guest shark Nirav Tolia did not go through.

There are no public records that confirm whether he put money into the business or not. Although some reports suggest the company instead raised $150,000 in seed funding from MassChallenge in early 2022.

After the episode aired, SoaPen sold out its entire inventory within hours. In the following months, they restocked and made their colorful soap pens available.

They also opened wholesale channels and started offering educator discounts, which helped them reach more schools and families.

The brand received press features in Forbes, Parents magazine, and other outlets, which gave it more credibility and visibility.

In 2022, SoaPen launched an Amazon storefront and also gained traction on social media.

As of October 2023, the company released new pen colors, adding pink and purple to the product line.

Then, in July 2024, they expanded further by introducing a children’s book called Alpy’s Sneeze to teach kids about hygiene and a set of color wheel socks.

Their website currently sells bundles such as the Soap Pen Trio with matching socks for $45.99, though many other bundles and packs are marked as sold out.

As for the founders, Amanat and Shubham, they were named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

Both have also been vocal about the challenges of being immigrant founders in the United States, especially when it comes to business certifications and navigating visa restrictions.

We really want to believe the company is still in business because the signs that suggest they are slowly going in the other direction are stronger.

First, the company’s social media activity has been slow(most posts on there are over a year old). Take, for instance, their Facebook page only had three updates in 2024.

Second, some products on their website are marked as “sold out.” But aside from these, the website is still very much active.

For now, that is all we have to report for our SoaPen update. We will let you know if we notice any signs of activity or product launch.

Before you go, be sure to check out more on Shark Tank Season 13 Episode 4:

• The Magic 5 Custom Goggles Update
• Tabby Dating App Update
• 54 Thrones Beauty Butter Update

For more on Shark Tank Season 13, visit our Season 13 products page.