ViewSport entrepreneur Ben Wood pitched his “sweat activated technology” clothing to the Sharks in episode 308. Wood, a chemist, invented a chemical application that, when applied to tee shirts and other outerwear, displays a message when the garment becomes soaked in sweat. Ben actually left medical school to pursue building his company, which was only a few months old when Wood first pitched Viewsport to the Sharks. Viewsport has patents pending for the technology and wants to get into licensing.
Viewsport in the Shark Tank
Ben came to the Tank seeking a $500k investment for 20% of his business. The company had approximately $140K in sales, with about $110K of those sales in the 3 months prior to taping. Despite the relatively good sales numbers, the Sharks are not impressed with how much Ben has valued his company at. Not one Shark believes the company is worth $2.5 million.
Barbara finds the whole idea disgusting and she goes out. Daymond thinks Ben wants him to work on the project too much, so he’s out. Mark hates the valuation, Kevin does too (but he likes the idea); they’re both out. Robert thinks the product is just a gimmick, he’s out too. So is Viewsport.
Viewsport Shark Tank Update
Ben pitched a great product, a great strategy, and some of the Sharks liked the idea, but he drowned in the tank with an overvaluation. While some entrepreneurs can overcome that in negotiations, Ben Wood of Viewsport could not. The company is still in business and appears to be doing well. Their Facebook page is active and their website boasts custom apparel customers like the US NAVY, US ARMY, Aramark, The Wizzards, The Capitols, Colin Kaepernick, Lax World, Flywheel, Amy Dixon, The Sweaty Beaties, Aura Sports, Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas, The Boilermaker, The ECAC Championships, Gus Macker, ESPN, Valenti Sports, Game Gear, and 300+ high schools and colleges. They have expanded their clothing lines and even have kid’s Viewsport apparel too.
In June, 2015 the company landed a $6.9 million contract to provide more than 1.4 million T-shirts for the U.S. Army through 2017.
As of July, 2021, there are several companies selling sweat activated clothing. It is unclear if they are knocking off Viewsport or if they are licensees. In 2022, they partnered with IronMan competitions to provide tee shirts to over 1 million annual IronMan race participants per year. As of May 2023, the company has annual revenue of $6.9 million.
Posts about Viewsport on SharkTank Blog
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