Mark Cuban grabs a $1 million 'Shark Tank' deal just when it seemed like Lori Greiner had it locked

Things can often get competitive on "Shark Tank," and sometimes the judges go as far as making $1 million offers. That's exactly what happened when the founders of Umaro Foods, Beth Zotter and Amanda Stiles, walked into the tank to pitch their 100% plant-based, seaweed bacon. While their product received mixed reactions, it caught the attention of the two biggest investors, Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban. The two eventually locked horns in a bidding war, but Cuban swept the deal by offering big money. 

In the episode, Zotter and Stiles entered the tank seeking $500,000 for 2% of their business. During their pitch, they explained how their venture aims to bring the benefits of seaweed to the world and help save the planet at the same time. They introduced their bacon to the judges, and everyone except Robert Herjavec liked it. "I love bacon, I don't love this. It doesn't really taste like bacon," he said. However, from the other end of the panel, Cuban disagreed, saying it did taste like bacon.

The two women then talked about their backgrounds and mission, explaining that Zotter had experience with seaweed and fuel, while Stiles specialized in seaweed as food. "So first of all, let me tell you, my mission is to protect this amazing planet that we live on. My background is in renewable energy," Zotter told the judges. She explained that she received a $5 million research grant from the Department of Energy to build and engineer offshore seaweed farms for fuel. That is when she conceived the idea of using seaweed as a source of protein. "I knew that animal protein was a huge contributor to global warming, and I realized that seaweed had an immense potential to be a planet-friendly source of protein," she said. Thus, she partnered with Stiles, and Umaro Foods was born. 

When the sharks asked if they had any competition, the entrepreneurs shared that all their processes—from the seaweed protein separation process to using that seaweed protein in plant-based meats—were patented and protected under their intellectual property. Furthermore, their bacon was a prototype demonstrating the potential of a technology that no other company would be able to use.

While discussing numbers, the founders shared that it cost them $7.30 to produce a pound of bacon, but they wanted to bring it down to $5.20. At that time, they sold to distributors for $12.60 per pound, while food service companies bought it for $18.99. With no sales to show yet, the entrepreneurs told the investors that they planned to launch their bacon in the food service industry by the end of the year, and had already secured $3 million in venture funding. 

With everything laid out, Herjavec was the first to back out of making an offer. Guest judge Emma Gerde followed his lead, but Kevin O'Leary saw potential in the business. Since he had a problem with the valuation, he offered $500,000 for 8%. When Zotter and Stiles countered with 8% for $1 million, and Cuban jumped in, saying, “I’ll do that deal.”

Before they could go ahead, Greiner said, "You are badass women, and I love badass women. You blow me away, you're so impressive, I want to be on this journey with you, really badly," before offering $500,000 for 4%, but with one condition: that her stake remain undiluted in future funding rounds. At the same time, Cuban reminded the entrepreneurs that his offer was still on. The co-founders then asked Cuban to come down to 7% and he agreed, ultimately stealing the deal from Greiner.

According to the Shark Tank Blog, it is unclear if the deal with Cuban closed. However, Umaro Foods witnessed great success, raising $3.8 million in seed funding and partnering with NBA all-star Chris Paul. By 2024, their product was in over 250 restaurants, and available on Amazon and their website, according to the publication.

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