Sean and Veon Brewster hope to cap a deal for Veba, their “smart” baby bottle monitor, in Shark Tank Episode 1519. The idea for Veba came to Veon, a tech industry veteran who is currently a UX Research Program Lead at Google, after the birth of her first child. The child developed colic from spoiled milk and Veon wanted to ensure it wouldn’t happen to her child, or anyone else’s, ever again.
The Veba bottle monitors 3 things: time, temperature, and when a bottle has been used for feeding. As soon as a bottle is prepared, the timer and thermometer activate. Once the baby drinks from the bottle, a second timer tracks how long any remaining breast milk or formula has before it goes bad. It also logs how much the baby drinks. All this information alerts parents through the Veba Baby app. If you misplace the bottle, it has a Clapper-like “find my bottle” feature.
The Brewsters started the business in July, 2021. The product was available to the public in August, 2023. Each Veba sells for $129 from the company website or Amazon. Since the Brewsters likely taped their segment around the time they introduced their product, they are likely looking for a Shark to help with customer acquisition.
Company Information
Video
Posts about Veba on Shark Tank Blog
Veba Baby: Revolutionizing Baby Feeding with Smart Technology
Veba Shark Tank Recap
Sean and Veon enter the Shark Tank seeking $150,000 for 15% equity in their company. The sound of a baby crying is heard and Sean rushes to get a bottle as Veon shouts instructions. Sean can’t figure out which bottle is the freshest. Veon says breast milk is liquid gold, but it doesn’t last forever. To make sure baby has safe, fresh milk, you have to track how long it’s been sitting out. They’ve used sticky notes, spreadsheets, even the back of their hand to track the age of breastmilk.
That’s why they created Veba, a smart baby bottle monitor that attaches to any bottle and tracks breast milk. It tracks the temperature of the bottle at all times and sends an alert when the milk is expiring. It automatically senses feedings and sends that info to the app so parents can know baby is eating enough.
Samples and Questions
The Sharks examine their samples. Veon tells them they’ve spent 2 years developing the product and they launched 5 week ago. Their son was the inspiration for the idea. Post partum, Veon was juggling work and baby care. She was doing so many things and tracking her breast milk manually. One day, she spent 40 minutes pumping and lost track of time and had to throw it away.
Breast milk is good for 4 hours at room temperature and up to 4 days in the fridge. Once a baby touches its mouth to the bottle, it accelerates the expiration time and you only have 2 hours to use that milk. That’s the importance of detecting feedings and parents don’t have to think about it.
Emma wants them to break it down for her. She’s a mother of 4 and has never had an issue around this – she’s not following the need. Women who underproduce breast milk need Veba because it matters if they have to throw a bottle away. They cost $45 to make one band and sell for $89. Sean says he can get the landed cost down 30%.
Let’s Talk Money
Veon tells Lori all she has to do is slide the band on the bottle and press the button, the app does the rest. The average customer is buying 2 at a time. They’ve sold $3000 in five weeks and they have 70 users on the app. They spent $350,000 to get to this point. They took a HELOC loan of $300,000 on their home and another $50,000 into the app and creating the product.
The Brewsters want the $150,000 for marketing. They have $178,000 (2000 units) in merchandise ready to go. They have $1.5 million from a private investor and they signed on with another investor last week.
Who’s In?
Emma says she has plastic baggies in the freezer for her breast milk and thinks cost concious moms won’t buy multiple monitors at $89. She feels like it’s another unneccessary purchase; she’s out. Robert says he doesn’t remember this as a problem; he’s out. Mark says don’t make this about saving money. Mark says it’s not a fit for him; he’s out. Kevin says the narrative is for him; he’s out. Lori thinks first time parents will want this most, but it’s too early; she’s out.
Veba Shark Tank Update
The Shark Tank Blog constantly provides updates and follow-ups about entrepreneurs who have appeared on the Shark Tank TV show. In the week following the original air date, the company saw “thousands” of hits on their website and a significant uptick in Amazon sales. Veon told the South Florida Business Journal her one regret was appearing on the show too soon after launching. She would have liked it if they had more traction before jumping in the Tank.
The Shark Tank Blog will follow-up on Veba & Sean and Veon Brewster as more details become available.
