'Shark Tank' Season 14: Brass Roots leaves with no offer as Sharks fear business will dry out in 90 days
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In January 20 episode of 'Shark Tank,' a New Orleans entrepreneur presents his allergen-free alternative to a nutritious snack. Unfortunately, Aaron Gailmo had to walk away with no deal, since most Sharks detest his approach to rolling over investors.
Brass Roots, founded by Aaron Gailmor, provides a range of keto-friendly, plant-based products/snacks created with organic Sacha Inchi Seeds for a nutritious and allergen-free source of protein, healthy fats, and fiber. Roasted Sacha Inchi, Sacha Inchi Butter, and Sacha Inchi Grain Free Crunch Puffs are all available in a range of tastes. Aaron faces five hungry Sharks in the Tank: Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, Daymond John, Mark Cuban, and Guest Shark Daniel Lubetzky. However, no Shark seems interested in making an offer on a firm that they believe will dry up in three months.
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The sacha inchi plant's seeds can help with weight loss, digestive health, and cholesterol levels. Through his firm, Brass Roots, entrepreneur Aaron turned it into a snack item. He sells keto-friendly, ecologically friendly snacks. Aaron just pitched his business on Season 14 of 'Shark Tank' but was unable to close a deal.
Aaron entered the Tank looking for $400k for 7% of his firm. He told the Shark about his first investment, Super Eats, a kale chip snack shaped like a tortilla chip, and the blunder he made with it. He mentioned how he wanted to go everywhere at once, attempting to become national while they lacked funds. When things didn't work out, he convinced his co-founder that he could rebuild everything and let him buy them out. But Aaron kept those investors because he wanted them to get their money back.
When asked about sales, Aaron states that the firm made $35,000 in 2019, $250k in 2020, and $500k in 2021, and he hoped to conclude the year with $1.5 million. However, he adds that the enterprise is now not profitable, which bothers the Sharks. When asked how much he will lose, Aaron responds that it will cover the overhead with their current gross margin. However, the firm burns between $20,000 and $30,000 every month. At the time of the episode's taping, the firm had only $100,000 in the bank. Kevin notes that he is "in a tough place" and will "burn out in 90 days."
Their best-selling item cost them $4.50-$5 to produce, and they sell it for $17.99, which the Sharks believe is a bit too much. When asked how much money he has raised so far, Aaron says that because of his early success, he was able to secure $1.7 million in finance from a prominent nut processing firm, John B Sanfilippo & Son, at a $5 million value. He utilized the funds to secure distributors with Sprouts Markets, Wegmans, and Whole Foods.
Given how much Aaron has already given to investors and how little he has left in the bank, Kevin wonders how much pain Aaron is prepared to endure as he argues with a $5.7 million valuation for Brass Roots. Aaron reveals that he owns 33% of the firm, which bothers the Sharks even more. Aaron explains that he rolled over and handed stock to his original investors from 2014 for a different firm, since he genuinely wanted to commit to them. Even though Kevin regards it as honorable, he believes that rolling over stock from a dead business is risky since when you engage in a company, you sometimes win and sometimes lose. He adds that, even if those investors were his friends, things can go wrong in business quickly, so he shouldn't have carried that weight into his new deal. This deprived him of equity. Aaron, Kevin believes, is burdening him with all of his "past sins." That's why he sits out of the deal.
Mark believes his margins are too small, so he declines to make a deal as well. Aaron has just 33% left, and "there's no meat on the bone" for him to feel comfortable, so Daymond goes out as well. Lori likes the product but believes that people don't know enough about Sacha Inchi, and because she doesn't know much about it either, she can't make a deal. Finally, Daniel informs Aaron that, with just three months of finance remaining, he does not consider the firm to be investible, and therefore retracts as well. Kevin believes Aaron is in "a world of hurt," but Aaron disagrees, claiming that they have excellent growth figures and positive feedback from customers.
'Shark Tank' Season 14 airs every Friday at 8/7c on ABC. Missed an episode? Been wanting to catch up? Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu. Not just that, you can also watch old seasons and episodes on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.