'Shark Tank' judges mocked the firm with $50 million valuation — but its founder had the last laugh

A patented UV-C LED light that purifies water and cleans bottles within minutes to end the risk from contaminated water is a game-changing idea that's enough to impress any investor, but how much can it squeeze out of sharks? Turns out, Wang asked for a 50 million valuation.

"Shark Tank" found it hilarious that Justin Wang asked for $500,000 in exchange for 1% of his business, Larq, which marketed self-cleaning water bottles that used U-VC LED technology. "Congratulations, highest valuation ever requested in the Shark Tank," Kevin O'Leary exclaimed over the historic half-a-million dollar investment. “Initially, we were laughed out of the room,” Wang recalled while talking to Forbes. “For the first 30 seconds, the Sharks were in disbelief. All they kept saying was, ‘You gotta be kidding me.’” 

However, Wang convinced the investors with his numbers and intelligent futuristic technology. He demonstrated how Larq's self-cleaning water bottles, which were designed to clean themselves every two hours, used the patented tech to destroy up to 99.99% of germs and viruses. Wang revealed the company pulled in $5.5 million from sales for the first year, $9 million in the second, and $14 million in the third year. In 2022, Larq sales went over $20 million due to the effects of the pandemic. “I slowly won the Sharks over and got offers for $1.5 million, three times more than my initial ask, from three different sharks,” Wang said recalling his triumph.

According to Sportskeeda, Wang also claimed that he has ten patents protecting his contemporary health product to prevent cheap ripoffs. Daymond John and Mark Cuban withdrew, stating that the hydration product already had strong support and a $6.5 million bank balance, negating the need for more funding. "When I signed up to this platform I didn't start off as the wealthy and helping the wealthy with 6.5 million in the bank I just could not do this because I just think that I'm here for a different reason," John said, pointing out his reason for not backing the deal. 

Three sharks showed interest, with Kevin O'Leary offering $500,000 in exchange for 4% equity, Robert Herjavec offering $500,000 in exchange for 3% equity and 2% in advisory share, and finally, Lori Greiner bringing $500,000 asking for 5% equity. Wang had a profitable counter-proposal, which was a $1.5 million combined investment in exchange for 4.5% equity shares and 1% advisory shares. Herjavec pulled out of the agreement because he didn't like it, leaving Greiner and O'Leary as the last investors. They offered $1 million for 4% equity shares, which they would divide equally. Wang accepted the offer and got more than what he bargained for.

After securing a winning margin for self-cleansing water bottles, Larq has introduced a revolutionary technology for the kitchen as well. Its second product to ever hit the market, the Larq Pitcher, was projected to bring approximately $30 million by 2022. Larq, a California-based company, debuted its first self-cleaning bottles in 2018 following an unprecedented Kickstarter campaign. In less than 30 days, the company raised $1.4 million.