Rapid Rope Got a 'Shark Tank' Deal and a Hefty Net Worth

Every year, tens of thousands of people apply for a chance to appear on ABC's reality show Shark Tank. It gives entrepreneurs an opportunity to pitch their business as an investment to five wealthy Sharks as potential partners. One couple pitched their idea, Rapid Rope, on Season 11. How much is Rapid Rope's net worth now?

Rapid Rope is built on a fairly simple concept: a length of rope that is conveniently housed inside a canister. This prevents the issue of rope that's hard to use because it's tangled or not handily stored. The creators of Rapid Rope say it's useful to take along just about anywhere.

Chris and Geanie Rodgers are a married couple who pitched their company, Rapid Rope, for an investment on Shark Tank. As they noted during their pitch, they spent a lot of time outdoors and often needed rope for various tasks. However, rope was often hard to get to or tangled, making it less useful.

Their product is a 120-foot length of rope that's heavy-duty and has a wrap-around cutting system within a storage canister. This helps people carry the rope anywhere and use it for tying down or hauling items safely. Rapid Rope also comes in a mini size of 70 feet as well as refill cartridges once you have the canister.

According to the Rapid Rope website, the couple tried several times to get on the reality program. Chris Rodgers eventually attended an open call in Kentucky to do an initial pitch. Next followed several months of paperwork and waiting. They were in Africa on a service work trip when they got the email saying they'd been selected.

Several months later, after extensive pitch preparation and more paperwork, the couple finally went to California to film their segment on Shark Tank. They were both very nervous and heading to the pitch was "the most nerve wracking, most surreal moment of our lives."

On Season 11 of Shark Tank, Chris and Geanie Rodgers requested $200,000 from the Sharks, in exchange for 20 percent equity in the company. According to SharkTankRecap, at the time Rapid Rope had done $172,000 in lifetime sales.

Impressively, the business was debt-free and the couple had invested $115,000 of their own money by that point. They hadn't been doing the business full-time, however, partly due to the responsibility of caring for their five children.

The Sharks responded as follows:

• Lori Greiner declined first, saying she didn't know how to sell rope effectively.
• Kevin O'Leary agreed with Greiner and declined to invest.
• Mark Cuban dropped out, saying he wasn't into the outdoors.
• Guest Shark Rohan Oza declined, but offered $10,000 to their charity in Africa.

Barbara Corcoran was the last remaining Shark, and she admitted she also was inexperienced with rope and how to market it to customers. However, she liked the couple and what they stood for, so she offered them $200,000 for a 30 percent stake.

The couple had hoped to give up only a 20 percent stake, so they counter-offered Corcoran 25 percent of their company. She didn't budge, though, and they accepted her offer.

Their Shark Tank pitch implied that Rapid Rope had a valuation of $1 million (they wanted $200,000 for a 20 percent stake). Although the company's exact net worth is unknown, some sources say it had sold $900,000 to $1 million per year of its product.

Chris Rodgers filed to patent his invention, and Rapid Rope is now available on the company website, Amazon, Cabela's, and at other retailers.