What Happened to The SMARTWheel After Shark Tank?
Back in Season 4 of Shark Tank, six smart kids called The Inventioneers came on the show with a big idea. They made something called the SmartWheel - a special steering wheel cover that helps stop distracted driving.
This product had one goal: save lives. Every day, many teens die in car crashes, often because they text while driving. So these young inventors - TJ, Jaiden, Emily, Kate, Paige, and Bryeton - wanted to fix that. Their SmartWheel lights up, makes a loud noise, and even sends a message to a phone app if the driver takes their hands off the wheel. It's short for: Safe Motorist Alert for Restricting Texting.
The kids asked the Sharks for $100,000 in exchange for 15% ownership of their business. That means they wanted an investor to give them money to help them build and sell the product - in return for a piece of the company.
They had already tested their product at MIT, where 90% of users said it helped. Even President Barack Obama said he liked the idea!
The SmartWheel cost around $50 to make, and they wanted to sell it for $200. But the product wasn’t finished yet - it was still just a prototype.
Some Sharks didn’t like it. Kevin O’Leary said it was a bad idea.
Then Robert Herjavec and Mark Cuban teamed up. They offered the kids $100,000 for 30% of the company - but only if they could license the product to a car company. The young team said yes on TV, but in real life, the deal never finished.
After the show, the team tried to keep going. In 2015, only three of the six members were still working on the business. They started a fundraiser on Indiegogo to get $50,000, but they raised just $2,079.
In 2016, they showed off a new design at the big tech show in Las Vegas. They even got support from the group FIRST, which helps young inventors. But even with all that help, the product still didn’t go into full production.
By 2019, the SmartWheel team had gone quiet. They were finalists at a college business contest, but nothing more came after that.
As of 2023, the website is no longer working. The SmartWheel was never sold to the public, and the deal from Shark Tank didn’t happen.
Even though the business didn’t work out, the story of the SmartWheel shows how young people can have big ideas. These kids showed the world what’s possible with hard work, teamwork, and a mission to make the world safer - even if the product didn’t make it to stores.
------------------------------
I must say that I have absolutely NO intention of violating the copyright holder's rights. All materials in these videos are used for educational purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of said material, please contact me via my email in the "about" page on my channel.
All are covered by the Fair Use law.
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
The video is accurate as of the posting date, however, it might not be accurate going forward and should not be taken as investment advice.
Please keep discussions on this channel clean and respectful and refrain from using racist or sexist slurs as well as personal insults.
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: There may be a few links in this description that, at no cost to you, will earn me a commission if you choose to click them and make a purchase. I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. I appreciate your support in allowing me to continue to create helpful content for you. Thank you!
#sharktankus #kevinoleary #markcuban #daymondjohn #sharktank #barbaracorcoran
Информация по комментариям в разработке