Shark Tank Pitch

Oru Kayak Shark Tank Update

Published:

4m

San Francisco, CA

Oru Kayak Shark Tank Update

Pitch Overview
NameOru Kayak
Main PresentersArdy Sobhani, Anton Willis, and Roberto Gutierrez
Presenter Image
Oru Kayak Entrepreneurs: Ardy Sobhani, Anton Willis, and Roberto Gutierrez
Product Image
Oru Kayak Product Image
Last Known in Business2/13/2023
Main Location

San Francisco, CA

Order Shown in Episode1
Final DealOffer made from sharks

Oru Kayak Shark Tank Pitch

Anton Willis wanted to make a kayak that was easy to store in a closet and travel with, so he tapped into his childhood passion for origami to make Oru Kayak, a kayak that folds into a small case. Anton brought in Ardy Sobhani and Roberto Gutierrez to help with the company. Oru Kayaks are 26 lbs, half the weight of a standard kayak while maintaining strength and watertight.

Oru Kayak has sold 1228 units at $1100 a piece, resulting in $1.1 million in total sales, with projections of $1.4 million by the end of this year and project $4 million next year. They primarily have sold directly to consumers through their website. Each unit costs them $505 to make, but they feel they can get that down to $350 and improve production speed.

Sharks are worried about the manufacturing unknowns that may come with producing Oru Kayaks at scale. Mark is not an outdoorsy guy, so he went out. The rest of the sharks went out for similar reasons until Robert couldn't resist the coolness factor of Oru Kayak and made an offer. Anton made a few counteroffers, but Robert held sturdy, and they came to a deal.

Offers

Made ByLabelSharks Part of DealSummary
CompanyOffered$500k for 12% of company
SharksOutMark CubanOut
SharksOutKevin O'LearyOut
SharksOutDaymond JohnOut
SharksOutBarbara CorcoranOut
SharksDeal Never ClosedRobert Herjavec$500k for 25% of company
CompanyOfferedRobert Herjavec$500k for 15% of company
CompanyOfferedRobert Herjavec$500k for 20% of company
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban

Out

Daymond John
Daymond John

Daymond John

Out

Kevin O'Leary
Kevin O'Leary

Kevin O'Leary

Out

Barbara Corcoran
Barbara Corcoran

Barbara Corcoran

Out

Robert Herjavec
Robert Herjavec

Robert Herjavec

Offered

Updates in Shark Tank Episodes

Update SeasonUpdate Episode
No Episode Updates

Oru Kayak After Shark Tank

I was surprised Mark Cuban went out so quick because he made a deal and seamed to have success with Tower Paddle Boards in season 3, which is not far off what Oru Kayak's product and business model would be like. Unfortunately, it appears as though the deal with Robert never materialized, although I could not find any content regarding the specifics.
Ardy Sobhani went on the Built On Passion in 2022. Anton Willis went to Berkley to be an architect and, after creating Oru Kayak, tried to license the idea, which failed, so he decided to launch it on his own and needed someone to manage the business and marketing side of things. Anton met Ardy, who went to design school, and when Anton put Ardy in an Oru Kayak, Ardy was hooked.
In 2012 Oru Kayak launched a Kickstarter , which became one of the most successful campaigns ever at the time, raising $443k in preorders. It would take them two days to make one Kayak early on, so they immediately had to learn to scale their production. They set up shop in Pamona, California, but by 2017 the production system was no longer scalable, and profits were declining. They moved to manufacture in Mexico and, over the years, continually expanded their production to be done more and more in-house. As of 2022, they have a couple of hundred people working at their Mexico facility. Ardy hinted that they are working on new use cases for their origami design, such as space applications.
As of 2023, Oru Kayak has ran five Kickstarter campaigns, each representing a new model of Kayak. All have been remarkably successful. In 2015 they raised $356k, in 2017, $124k, in 2020, $979k, and in 2022, $2.25 million.
In 2021, Solo Brands acquired Osu Kayak and took Solo Brands company public on the New York Stock Exchange. Solo Brands is a public company, so its financials are public. I am not an expert accountant, but it appears as though Solo Brands acquired Oru Kayak for $19 million in 2021, according to their filings at solobrands.com . I believe Solo brands did $400 million in annual revenue in 2021 with a $10 million profit.
According to Anton Willis' LinkedIn and Ardy Sobhani' LinkedIn , they are still with Oru Kayak as of 2023. Roberto Gutierrez's LinkedIn indicates he still works with Oru Kayak in 2023 and several other brands focusing on marketing.
Oru Kayak's website is orukayak.com . As of 2023, they are active on their Facebook , Twitter, @orukayak , Instagram, @orukayak , and YouTube .

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