'Shark Tank' offers a whopping $2.4 million deal to founders who pitched a bathtub for cold plunges

"Shark Tank" investors may scrutinize the most innovative products, but on several occasions, they're sold for the simplest ideas, just because they focus on solving common problems. There's nothing like plunging in cold water on a summer day, but it requires a lot of effort to fill up a pool, put ice in it, and drain it every time before filling it up again. That's an issue that the entrepreneurs behind Plunge decided to address with their tub, and they sought funds to make sure it reaches more people.

In an earlier episode of “Shark Tank”, the founders of the company, Michael Garrett and Ryan Duey, appeared on the show seeking $1.2 million for 5% equity. But before the sharks could analyze the offer and decide if they wanted to invest in the business, Robert Herjavec decided to try out the tub designed for a cold plunge.

As he took his clothes off and got into the ice-cold water, the investor was not comfortable at all and shrieked multiple times since the water was freezing. After a few seconds and some deep breaths, things got better. After he came out of the tub, the shark was full of energy. “It’s incredible,” he said, before adding “You feel your blood flowing…like I am ready to go.” That was enough proof for Herjavec's fellow panel members to realize that this was a company worth investing in. Apart from Lori Greiner, everyone made the entrepreneurs an offer. However, the one that got Garrett and Duey interested was Herjavec's offer of $2.4 million for 12% of the company. Half of that would be a normal investment and the other half would be a loan at the same rate of interest as a bank. Unsurprisingly, the entrepreneurs went ahead with it since they mainly wanted the money to ramp up production.

The company was founded in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. As people were not allowed to go out and about to exercise, taking a cold plunge regularly worked wonders for their bodies. Just a year later, Plunge was on “Shark Tank” getting a deal worth millions. It has been more than three years since that day and the company’s rise has been meteoric.

According to a report in Entrepreneur, Plunge pulled in a whopping $100 million in revenue in 2024. On “Shark Tank” they reported sales worth more than $4 million. When asked about their growth, the entrepreneurs spoke about how their expectations as businessmen have also gone up thanks to their success.

“Two and a half years ago, if we got out 80 units a month, we were like, "Hell yeah, we crushed it." Now we're looking to do those numbers in a day. And so the most important thing we've done in the past year is to put the infrastructure in place to sustain that growth. For us, that comes down to team culture and product innovation,” they explained.