The Fidget Game For Reading Literacy | Shark Tank Season 15
Former teacher turned entrepreneur, Brandi Dugal, pitched her reading literacy games during
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to The Fidget Game after
Brandi Dugal appeared on
| Shark: | Result: |
| Barbara Corcoran | Accepted deal for $500,000 for 15% equity |
| Mark Cuban | No offer |
| Lori Greiner | No offer |
| Kevin O’Leary | No offer |
| Daymond John | No offer |
Shark Tank The Fidget Game Update
- Entrepreneur: Brandi Dugal
- Business:Â Educational game for kids
- Ask: $500,000 for 10% equity
- Result:Â $500,000 for 15% equity
- Shark:Â Barbara Corcoran
The Fidget Game isn’t any ordinary game. Founder Brandi Dugal describes it as being more like a teacher in a box. Additionally, her games are multi-sensory, align with the science of reading, and they work to improve literacy in kids.
Created by a Kindergarten teacher devoted to exploring fun ways to teach reading to young kids, The Fidget Game aims to teach curriculum-appropriate Dolch words or sight words from Pre-K to Grade 3 kids.
To play, the child draws a card. If they get a word card with a heart on it, it means that the child needs to know the word by heart, instead of sounding it out.
On the flip side, if they pick a lightning bolt card, this means they need to read it in a flash by sounding it out. Whoever says the word correctly first, gets to roll the dice, then pop the coordinating amount of bubbles on the fidget popper.
You win the game by popping all the bubbles on the fidget popper first.
The former teacher goes on to share with Barbara Corcoran that her company would not have happened if it weren’t for the shark. She explains that one day her husband came home and asked for a divorce out of the blue.
While she was grieving this news, Barbara’s story about a similar experience popped up on her TikTok. Seeing that Barbara overcame a similar situation and created an empire after heartbreak inspired and encouraged Brandi to do the same.
She then moved into her mom’s basement, got in touch with a supplier, and created the entire company within a week’s time. The company has been active for just 13 months at the time of filming, and she’s done an astounding $3.2 million in sales.
Barbara is moved by Brandi’s story, and Daymond John chimes in, saying that he and Barbara are both dyslexic. Because of this, they understand how it feels to struggle with reading.
Kevin O’Leary speaks up just then, pointing out that he is also dyslexic. He too is touched by not only her story but also the product, especially since he got his start in a reading-focused company.
With Brandi’s experience as a teacher, it’s important to her to help kids conquer their reading struggles. Further, she says she won’t stop until she makes her company an international brand.
In terms of sales, 85% come from Amazon, with 15% coming from her website. She initially created a council of 100 teachers and gave them games to test out, asking for feedback in return.
Teachers then blew it up on TikTok, which eventually helped her sales grow on Amazon. From there, she began gaining organic traffic, and within 6 months on Amazon, her games were marked as being #1 for reading.
Manufacturing costs between $3.45 and $3.80, with customer acquisition being $6.80. The games then retail for $29.99.
Additionally, her net margin has ranged between 25% and 32%, so she expects to make over $1 million this year, even if her sales stay the same.
Now, she needs the sharks to help her with product expansion. She envisions taking kids through their entire literacy journey, from Pre-K to grade 6.
She also wants to expand The Fidget Game internationally, to create the games for other languages. With this, she hopes to make the games a resource for those learning English as a second language.
Barbara speaks up and offers Brandi $500,000 for 20% equity. Brandi tells Barbra how much she loves her and wants to partner up, however, she counters at 15% equity.
Barbra agrees, and the deal is done. What do you think happened following
Keep reading The Fidget Game update to find out!
We were able to catch up with Brandi for a quick interview to see how The Fidget game is doing after
While preparing for the pitch itself was extremely stressful, Brandi shared that all of the cast and crew were incredibly supportive and helped make it a “joyful experience.”
She also shared that the deal with Barbara is still in the due diligence process, but made no indications that it wouldn’t be going through.
As expected, sales have been picked up since airing on
“We aim to expand our impact across the USA, reaching more communities and schools,” Brandi told us. “A key focus is on exploring ways to engage with lower-income neighborhoods and inner-city schools to contribute to the improvement of literacy scores.”
In 2024, Brandi is planning to focus on taking The Fidget Game internationally and having it translated into different languages.
If you’re considering this program for your kids, check out the rave reviews on both Amazon and The Fidget Game website. You’ll also find that the brand is quickly expanding its product line, for all areas of learning.
The future looks bright for Brandi and we cannot wait to see where the next The Fidget Game update takes us!
In the meantime, you can check out our other company updates from Season 15 Episode 7, by following the links below!
For even more on companies and products, be sure to stop by our Season 15 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!
