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Mark Cuban stuns ‘Shark Tank’ with rare $30M offer — but this dating app's founders say no thanks

The Kang sisters felt that Cuban's price was a mere eyewash for their billion-dollar business idea.

Arum, Dawoon, and Soo Kang created 'Coffee Meets Bagel', a unique dating app that worked with Facebook profiles to match potential singles. They based the search on simple principles; the app sends users a list of "Bagels" or serious relationship seekers each day. Users could then decide whether to like or reject these matches, and if both users showed interest, they may start a conversation. The Kang sisters presented their revolutionary romantic app on 'Shark Tank' in 2022, intending to receive $500,000 for 4% equity in their scam-free dating service. "We all know online dating sucks why because it treats people as a piece of information you search for from a huge database people want to go back to the time where you just stumble upon someone special, maybe through a friend that's why we created Coffee Meets Bagel," they chorused. 

"We took the proven concept of daily flash sale sites and immersed it with social networking elements to create the highest quality dating service for singles," the Ivy League graduates continued. The Kang sisters then elaborated on the workings of their dating app, "Every day at noon, we create one perfect match who is a friend of a friend of you have 24 hours to review their profile information and choose to like or pass on the match. Mutual likes lead to a private chat line that expires in seven days." The sisters claimed to have made double-digit profits after quitting their high-profile jobs and putting their life savings into their dating app, as per Inc. 

Without disclosing the actual figures, they argued that the app had around 100,000 and 500,000 active users. They further explained that their initial subscription on the app is free, while some features are coded with virtual currency and available to premium users. "You can unlock using virtual currency in the form of coffee beans, like what one of the most popular items we have is called open sesame, we actually tell you how many mutual friends you have between you and your match."

However, Mark Cuban was too early to bow out of the deal after the Kang sisters failed to give out the actual number of users on the dating app. “If you want an investment, you can’t not tell us,” Cuban reasoned. The sisters then jumped onto their sales and alleged that they profited around "eighty-seven thousand dollars, but get this, this year in the first five months, we made $270,000."They projected a $10 million sale in the upcoming years, which did initially impress the 'sharks'. However, the investors dropped the deal one by one, citing uncertainty and the risk of the dating model being copied. 

At that point, Cuban surprisingly circled back with a jaw-dropping offer; he enticed the Kang sisters with a $30 million all-in deal. “He offered you $30 million and you didn’t even flinch!” exclaimed Robert Herjavec. “We see this business growing as big as Match.com,” Dawoon reacted after rejecting the historic moment. “They’re becoming a billion-dollar-revenue company, and we think this model and the product have the potential to be as big as Match.” Since the Kang sisters had already secured $2.8 million from external investors, including Match.com co-founder Peng Ong, they felt that Cuban's price was a mere eyewash for their billion-dollar business idea. As per Women, after garnering the right attention by appearing on 'Shark Tank, ' the dating app continues to grow.