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‘Shark Tank’ judges laughed at this mom-son duo’s fake wedding cake idea — now they’re in 180+ stores

‘Shark Tank’ Season 6 contestants Kimberly and Koray Aya had the best way to solve a major wedding hassle

Kimberly and Koray Aya appeared on ‘Shark Tank’ in Season 6 with a creative solution to a costly wedding tradition. They introduced their business, FunCakes, a wedding cake rental service that immediately piqued the Sharks’ interest. Rather than baking real cakes, FunCakes offered realistic-looking faux cakes as a budget-friendly alternative to expensive tiered wedding cakes. Their unique approach provided couples with the visual appeal of a traditional wedding cake at a fraction of the cost.

According to Shark Tank Blog, the mother had been baking and decorating cakes her entire life. She also taught at the SECCHIA Institute of Culinary Education and previously owned a cake shop in Europe. Her work even earned her appearances on shows like 'Rachael Ray', 'The Today Show', 'Regis and Kelly', and others. Meanwhile, Shark Tank Recap noted that their rental cakes looked just as stunning as real ones but came at a much lower cost. The exterior was crafted from gum paste for a realistic finish, while the interior was made of foam. Cleverly, the cakes included a hidden compartment, allowing the bride and groom to perform the traditional cake-cutting ceremony still.

During the time of filming, Kimberly and Koray had completed over seven years in their business. In the previous year, the two had done $150,000 in sales, with a gross profit of $76,000. The outlet also reports that the two contestants paid themselves $17,000 in net income. However, all these business talks had the Sharks unimpressed. Further, while the two were still trying their best to convince the Sharks to invest in FunCakes, Lori Greiner made a move. She went on to drop out of making any investment.

For her part, she mentioned that she liked real cakes. Mark Cuban, as well as Kevin O’Leary, were the two other judges dropping out of the deal quickly. This time, the Sharks expressed concern over the company’s concept and earnings. Robert Herjavec seemed a little too concerned with the numbers to come forth with an offer. Hence, the Shark decided to drop out of the deal. Barbara Corcoran was next and mentioned that she thinks the concept was clever, but didn’t trust Kimberly or Koray based on their lack of success.

Her views came from past details of the business. Unfortunately, FunCakes had to leave ‘Shark Tank’ without shaking hands with any one of the Sharks. However, Shark Tank Recap suggests that the business still managed to run over the years. FunCakes received exceptional media attention after making an appearance on ‘Shark Tank’ Season 6. In fact, during Covid, they switched their services from cake rentals to a whole new business model. They were even selling their product in over 180 Jewel Osco grocery stores in Illinois. The product was also available in SpartanNash stores in Michigan. FunCakes started selling real cakes, finally! Back in August 2021, they even celebrated their 14th anniversary being a full-fledged business. This was also when they had an annual income of $1.1 million.