Shark Tank Update
Shark Tank Pitch
Wild Squirrel Nut Butter Shark Tank Update
Published:
3m
Portland, OR
| Name | Wild Squirrel Nut Butter |
|---|---|
| Main Presenters | Erika Welsh and Keeley Tillotson |
| Presenter Image | |
| Product Image | |
| Last Known in Business | 9/5/2022 |
| Main Location | Portland, OR Loading Map |
| Order Shown in Episode | 1 |
| Final Deal | Offer made from sharks |
Wild Squirrel Nut Butter Shark Tank Pitch
Erika Welsh and Keeley Tillotson were sophomores at the University of Oregon when they took it into their own hands to give their peanut butter-fueled life a makeover. Wild Squirrel Nut Butter sells a variety of peanut butter flavors.
Keeley's parents have put $50k into Wild Squirrel Nut Butter. In the first few months, Wild Squirrel Nut Butter has sold 3500 jars of peanut butter worth $14k with a $7k profit.
When I see you again, you're going to be a lot older. I know that because the world is going to kick the living crap out of you.
Erika and Keeley are going into their junior year, but the sharks worry their one foot in, one foot out approach to running Wild Squirrel Nut Butter is not enough to compete and win. Barbara has had a few successful Shark Tank food investments and makes a deal with Erika and Keeley.
Offers
| Made By | Label | Sharks Part of Deal | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Offered | $50k for 10% of Company | |
| Sharks | Out | Daymond John | Out |
| Sharks | Out | Mark Cuban | Out |
| Sharks | Out | Kevin O'Leary | Out |
| Sharks | Out | Robert Herjavec | Out |
| Sharks | Deal Never Closed | Barbara Corcoran | $50k for 40% of Company |
| Company | Offered | Barbara Corcoran | $50k for 35% of Company |
Mark Cuban
Out
Daymond John
Out
Kevin O'Leary
Out
Barbara Corcoran
Offered
Robert Herjavec
Out
Updates in Shark Tank Episodes
| Update Season | Update Episode |
|---|---|
| 4 | 12 |
Wild Squirrel Nut Butter After Shark Tank
Erika Welsh and Keeley Tillotson went on the Just the Good Stuff podcast in 2020 here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/erika-welsh-keeley-tillotson-co-founders-of-wild/id1484672751?i=1000496817423. When Erika and Keeley started there were few to no flavored peanut butter available on the market. Encouragement from friends led Erika and Keeley to fill that gap.Link Preview
here
Erika and Keeley were the youngest entrepreneurs on Shark Tank at the time. After Shark Tank, Erika and Keeley stopped going to school and focused entirely on Wild Squirrel Nut Butter with the help of Keeley's dad, who was a salesman for Honest Tea until it was acquired by Coca-Cola in 2011. Keeley's dad was instrumental in getting Wild Squirrel Nut Butter into hundreds of stores.
According to a 2016 article by Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2016/07/07/four-years-after-shark-tank-23-year-old-her-best-friend-and-her-dad-build-a-7m-nut-butter-company/?sh=120027bf1d95, The deal with Barbara never went through. Erika and Keeley raised $10k from a Kickstarter campaign, got $50k from Keeley's parents, and took a loan out to fund their first batch of products to put in stores.Link Preview
Forbes
After being sued by Squirrel Brand in 2013 for copyright infringement, Wild Squirrel Nut Butter changed its name to Wild Friends. That year Wild Friends raised $450k through a crowdfunding platform called CircleUp.
In season 4, episode 12, we got an update that Erika and Keeley left college to focus on Wild Squirrel Nut Butter full-time. Since Shark Tank, in less than a year, they did over $350k in revenue with projected sales of $1.2 million over the next year.
In 2016 Wild Friends was in over 12k stores and sales were expected to be $7 million. They also raised $1.4 million on CircleUp. According to foodbusinessnews.net https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/12915-wild-friends-secures-35-million-investment-as-it-branches-beyond-nut-butter, in 2018 Wild Friends raised $3.5 million, which will help fund new product offerings and hire more staff.Link Preview
foodbusinessnews.net
In 2022, Erika and Keeley work with co-packers in Fresno, California, "The valley of almonds" to meet their demand. While they may be working on adding new products in the future, their website, wildfriendsfoods.com https://wildfriendsfoods.com, currently offers a handful of peanut butter flavors and single-serve packets.Link Preview
wildfriendsfoods.com
In 2022 Erika runs and actively posts on Wild Friends' Instagram, @wild_friends https://www.instagram.com/wild_friends.Link Preview
@wild_friends
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