Scan is the next App in the Shark Tank in season 5 and appears in episode 507. The QR Scan Code Generator has over 40 million users world-wide to date! Entrepreneur Garrett Gee started the business while a freshman at BYU along with classmates, Kirk Ouimet and Ben Turley. The Scan smart phone App allows users to create instant, scannable codes (QR codes, NFC, and more) for just about any application (ex. “Scan to Follow, to Like, to Buy” etc).
Scannable codes are becoming ubiquitous both on and offline. You see them in places like museums, coffee shops – just about anywhere a business would want to provide more information to consumers via their smart phone. Scan also hosts the links from the codes created with the app and lets users access and edit them via their dashboard so new codes don’t have to be constantly generated.
Scan Shark Tank Recap
Garrett enters asking for $1 million for 5% of the business. He explains Scan allows the easiest way to scan QR codes. He uses a Mission Belt QR code to show how he can instantly link to the Mission Belt website, Twitter account, etc. The app was free at the time of taping, but it’s $1.99 on show night.
There are currently over 51 million app downloads and millions of scans each month. They’ve perfected the app, but need to know how to monetize better. The idea is to keep the app low-priced and charge businesses to host their QR code data. Mark questions the longevity of QR codes and Garrett demonstrates how Google glasses interact with the Scan app. He wants to know what differentiates Scan from the other players. Garrett claims he used Shark Tank as inspiration for his VC negotiating model and he’s raised $8.7 million.
Daymond thinks Garrett is there for publicity and doesn’t need the money – he’s out. Lori says she’s not a tech person and she goes out. Robert doesn’t think it’s proprietary and Kevin thinks there isn’t a solid enough business model, they’re both out. Garrett makes a final passionate pitch. Mark’s a fan of sensors, not scan codes and he’s out too. Garrett leaves without a deal, and Daymond says he’s proud that Shark Tank inspires young entrepreneurs like Garrett.
Scan Shark Tank Update
Although Garrett Gee didn’t lure a Shark into investing into his Scan app, he did accidentally hack the Shark Tank.
One of the rules, when appearing on the show, is that entrepreneurs aren’t allowed to show a website url on screen. Gee’s presentation didn’t include a website url, but it did include a scan code. The code allows viewers to scan the image directly from their television screen. While, at the time of airing, the code was a “dummy” that led nowhere, Gee eventually used the same code to link to his Instagram account. After a re-airing of the episode, his Instagram received over 3,000 hits from consumers, some of whom downloaded the app and scanned the code while viewing.
The app continues to expand into the marketplace. A simple app might not have caught the Sharks’ attention, but clearly it’s finding its way into the hands of consumers.
In December 2014, Snapchat acquired Scan, Inc. for $54 million. Usually, these type of acquisitions are confidential, but Sony Pictures got hacked and there were details about the transaction in those files. As of August, 2021, Garret and his family are traveling the world and are known as The Bucket List Family.
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