First into the tank are Ryan Evans, Dave Evans and Chris Harley of Inboard Technology, seeking $750,000 for four percent equity.

Inboard Technology on Shark Tank: Quick Recap

  1. Innovative Product: Inboard Technology introduced the first electric skateboard with in-wheel motors, offering unique features like regenerative braking.
  2. High Pre-Orders: The company had $5.6 million in pre-orders, indicating significant market interest and demand.
  3. Shark Negotiations: Lori Greiner and Kevin O’Leary combined their offers, providing a $750,000 loan at 9% interest for 4% equity, demonstrating flexible negotiation strategies.
  4. Market Niche: The product’s niche appeal was both a strength and a challenge, with some Sharks skeptical about its scalability.

Inboard Technology: Company Overview

Inboard Technology is “the world’s first electric skateboard with motors inside the wheels.” The board, which has a top speed of 24 m.p.h., features in-wheel motors, regenerative braking and integrated LED lights.

On their website, the board costs $1,399 and comes with a PowerShift battery and soft carry bag.

According to their Kickstarter campaign, “Inboard seeks to create lightweight transportation technology that flows.”

The Sharks Reactions to Inboard Technology

The sharks seem impressed by the product, but some view it as very niche. Guest shark Chris Sacca sees it as a good mode of transportation, but Mark Cuban finds lots of challenges involved, including not being scalable. They have $5.6 million in pre-orders from distributors.

Kevin O’Leary offers $750,000 as a loan at eight percent interest with a two-and-a-half percent equity stake. Robert Herjavec doesn’t “buy into” the idea of it being a mass transportation product so goes out, as do Sacca and Cuban.

Lori Greiner finds the product cool, but O’Leary warns that if she goes out, he will raise his equity ask. She decides to offer $750,000 as a loan at eight percent interest for three percent equity. After leaving the tank to discuss the offers, O’Leary and Greiner decide to combine their offers at $750,000 as a loan for eight percent interest for five percent equity. They counter three percent, Greiner’s original single offer.

They counter upping the interest, agreed on nine percent interest for four percent equity. They again counter 10 percent interest for three percent, citing that they cannot go above three percent equity, despite coming in asking for four percent.

Ultimately, they accept.

Wrapping Up

Each week on “Shark Tank,” budding entrepreneurs have the opportunity to pitch their emerging business to six multi-millionaire and billionaire investors, known as sharks: Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks; Daymond John, fashion mogul and founder of FUBU; Kevin O’Leary, self-proclaimed Mr. Wonderful and founder of O’Leary Financial Group; Barbara Corcoran, real estate maven; Lori Greiner, queen of QVC; and Robert Herjavec, technology guru and founder/CEO of the Herjavec Group. Venture capitalist Chris Sacca is also slated to appear as a guest shark this season.

“Shark Tank,” which is based on “Dragons’ Den,” is produced by Mark Burnett and first debuted in 2009. To date, the sharks have invested more than $87 million in various companies after engaging in numerous bidding wars and shark fights. A new episode airs each Friday at 9 p.m. on ABC.

Social Media Reacts to Inboard Technology’s Appearance on “Shark Tank”

 

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