VaBroom is a clever combination of a vacuum cleaner and a broom. You just pile up the mess and the vacuum part of the device takes care of the rest. The company was invented by John Vadnais and Trevor Lambert, who struck a deal with Kevin O’Leary. As of 2024, VaBroom is valued at $10 million.
Founder
Originally from Champlin, Minnesota, Trevor Lambert attended the University of St. Thomas where he began coming up with various inventions. In 2010, Trevor founded a design company called Enhance Innovations as a home for his creations.
While working at Enhance Innovations, he was hired by other businesses to help them with licensing. That’s how Trevor met John Vadnais. John, who has an MBA from Bemidji State University, owns Vadco Innovations. While it was just the two of them who appeared on Shark Tank, there were six other partners involved in the business.
Building VaBroom
Joseph Caswell, the original inventor of the VaBroom, approached John and Trevor after he finalized the design for the hybrid vacuum cleaner and broom and entered into a licensing agreement with Enhance Innovations.
As inventors, they already had a proven track record of bringing products to market. The two felt that Joseph’s invention was the real deal. So they teamed up with Caswell and five other people.
John invested $200,000 in the startup, but the team decided that was not enough to start mass production. They launched a Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $74,000. The product was released in 2020 and generated $3.1 million in sales in 2021.
Shark Tank Appearance
The product had been very successful, but they needed to raise more money to finance inventory. The group appeared on Season 13 of Shark Tank and asked for $350,000 in exchange for 2.5% equity.
As they entered the tank to present the product, John fell dramatically, spilling some nuts. The sharks were stunned when they revealed that the company had revenues of $3.1 million and a net profit of $300,000 over the previous 12 months.
Kevin O’Leary’s ears perked up at the word “royalties.” None of the other sharks had shown interest because of the company’s complex structure. Mr. Fantastic offered $350,000 for a 2.5% stake in the design company, plus a $3 per unit royalty until he took home $700,000.
The founders tried to argue but eventually agreed. Kevin said, “I buy Barbara a new broom every year so she can fly around.”
After Shark Tank
After the episode aired, Trevor and John received a lot of media attention and were featured on multiple sites including Digital Trends, TikTok, and The Daily Mail. As a result, their sales peaked in the weeks after the episode aired. You can buy this cleaning tool at VaBroom.com, Amazon, Walmart, Lowe’s, and Bed Bath & Beyond.
It appears that the deal with Kevin O’Leary has not yet been completed, as Vabroom is not listed on his website with his other Shark Tank investments. The royalty aspect of the deal may be eating up too much money that is needed for the inventory.
The product has over 1,440 reviews on Amazon and a 3.5-star rating. Since the product was only recently featured on the show, recent sales figures have not yet been released. The company is currently valued at around $10 million.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: svlsf.edu.vn