SmartGurlz Update | Shark Tank Season 9
Sharmi Albrechtsen has developed a program to encourage girls to learn about engineering through a codable scooter for fashion dolls. Will the sharks see the potential of this idea? Find out in this
Shark Tank SmartGurlz Update
- Entrepreneur: Sharmi Albrechtsen
- Business: Coding software for girl’s toys
- Ask: $200,000 for 5% equity
- Result: $200,000 for 25% equity
- Shark: Daymond John
Sharmi Albrechtsen was inspired to start this company when her daughter was struggling with math. She created her app to help her daughter with math through the use of stories, leading her to create SmartGurlz.
SmartGurlz inspires smart kids with characters with books, robot and learning apps that teach block-coding by moving your favorite character and robotic scooter around.
Coming into the tank, Sharmi has sold $250,000 of her product online. It has a provisional patent on the product itself as well as the coding software.
The coding software works as a fillable drag and drop software that helps children learn how to write codes. It then puts the code below. The girls can see what they wrote, teaching them the next step of writing codes.
Daymond John offered $200,000 for 30%, as he did not agree with the valuation. Robert Herjavec dropped out because the product was attached to a doll and it wasn’t for him.
Lori Greiner was afraid Barbie would copy this product, as they have with another product she and Robert invested in. This made her drop out, but she did say Daymond had a great offer for her.
Guest shark, Richard Branson, didn’t think he could bring enough to the business and did not give her an offer. Mark Cuban also left the deal.
Sharmi wanted to know if there was any wiggle room with Daymond’s offer. She countered with $200,000 for 20%. He said he needed to stay at 30%. She came back with 25% to go into licensing. They agreed and made a deal.
At the time of this
The company has partnered with Pitsco Education to create a curriculum for the product that can be used in schools. This curriculum, called Smart Buddies, has been featured on Good Morning America and many other popular television programs.
Sales have been booming since this partnership occurred totaling over $20 million since 2021. This SmartGurlz update is definitely a
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