'Shark Tank' judge Lori Greiner once invested $1 million in a business — now it's worth $2.9 billion

Every "Shark Tank" judge stands out for a specific trait or the way they interact with entrepreneurs, and Lori Greiner is known for shaping the success of ventures beyond investments. Over the years, she had made several successful investments in companies that went on to set records for the show. Apart from the famous Scrub Daddy deal, another investment that stands out is EverlyWell. Greiner put her faith in the founder of the company, Julia Cheek, with a million-dollar investment, and it paid off big time. Within a few years, the company posted tens of millions in revenue figures and reached an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion.

Cheek entered the show seeking $1 million for 5% of her company. In her pitch, she told the story of how she started the company and explained that lab testing is a $25 billion market. She said that she personally spent months trying to solve a health problem that ended up being a common hormone imbalance. She had to take a lot of tests, which cost a lot of time and money. In the end, she was left with unexpected lab bills and results that she didn’t understand. Thus, to solve this problem, she came up with EverlyWell. 

She explained that her company aimed to make lab work more convenient for medical consumers with their at-home lab testing kits. She shared that the kits that cost between $100 and $300 are generally more convenient and affordable for customers to purchase. She demonstrated how customers can order testing kits from the company's website and mail the samples back for testing and results.

Mark Cuban made the first move, complimenting the business idea. However, he felt that the business would need too much money for redevelopment and to fight competition, thus, he wasn't willing to invest. "Competition, it is a race right now. It's going to take a lot more money. There's going to be a ton of competition in this space, and so for those reasons, I'm out," he said.

Barbara Corcoran agreed with Cuban and was concerned about the redevelopment costs. Thus, she went out as well. Meanwhile, Robert Herjavec expressed that he was frustrated with the high cost of health care in America, and he saw EverlyWell as a part of the solution. However, it wasn't the right investment for him, so he went out. Guest shark Rohan Oza expressed belief in the company, but even he had the same concerns that forced him to go out.

Finally, it was all down to Greiner, who decided to take a flyer on the company. "I'm going to be a little creative here. How about I give you a million-dollar line of credit at 8% interest for the 5% equity? Then I'll bring all the marketing and the retail expertise for you," she offered. Cheek admitted that she was in desperate need of a line of credit, so she accepted the deal without countering.

Shortly after her appearance on Shark Tank, Cheek benefited massively from the COVID-19 pandemic by creating home testing kits. EverlyWell posted incredible numbers with lifetime sales of $1 billion, according to the update shared by CNBC Ambition. Furthermore, in March 2021, EverlyWell acquired PWN Health and Home Access Health Coprs for an undisclosed amount, which took its net worth to a whopping $2.9 billion, according to Bloomberg.