A North Carolina business founded by two Wake Forest University graduates swam with the sharks — and came out not only alive, but richer.
Winston-Salem-based Storage Scholars was featured as the first company to pitch on the Oct. 14 episode of "Shark Tank," where they sought $250,000 for a 5% stake in the company. The founders received offers from four of the sharks — all but Lori Greiner — and ended up making a deal with famed investor Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur who owns the Dallas Mavericks, AXS.tv and Magnolia Pictures, among other ventures.
Storage Scholars was founded in 2017 at WFU, when CEO and co-founder Sam Chason, then a freshman, saw the logistical and physical struggle for international and out-of-state students to ship their items back home.
Chason, along with co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Matt Gronberg, designed a pickup and delivery storage specifically designed for college students. Customers receive boxes and packing supplies, pack up their items, and Storage Scholars takes care of the rest — including delivering the items to the students’ new dorms in the fall.
Their idea and growth in the business were among the reasons the Triad Business Journal named Chason an inaugural Inno Under 25 honoree in 2021 and a 20 in their 20s recipient in 2021.
In just under 6 years, the company has grown to service 23 campuses and has plans to double to 50 by next summer. It served over 3,500 students this academic year. Storage Scholars has also seen revenue growth, having already brought in $2 million this year and allowing both Chason and Gronberg to graduate free of debt.
Sharks take a bite on Storage Scholars
Chason and Gronberg popped out of one of their Storage Scholars-branded boxes to begin their pitch on "Shark Tank." They described a struggle that many college students face, when it’s finals week and they don’t want to pack but move-out day looms, as well as how the business has grown since 2017.
All but Greiner wanted in on Storage Scholars, although for a larger stake in the business.
“In some businesses, moving slowly is good. What I’ve learned from you, you’ve got to go faster,” Robert Hervajec told Chason and Gronberg.
Kevin O’Leary offered $250,000 for 20% stake, and Daymond John offered the same. Hervajec, noting that it takes money to go faster, offered $500,000 for a 20% stake and a $2.5 million valuation. O’Leary and John partnered to match that offer for a 40% stake split between the two of them.
But Cuban was the one to strike the right deal. Chason and Gronberg agreed to give Cuban a 10% stake in the business in exchange for a $250,000 investment. Cuban, who is passionate about reducing college debt, told Storage Scholars he would help open doors for the company on more campuses.
Chason did not respond immediately to TBJ's inquiry about whether the TV deal remains in place. Prior to the episode's airing, he said that Storage Scholars has two partnerships in its pipeline, declining to disclose more information.
Westward ho! Storage Scholars plans to expand nationally
Chason told TBJ he expects that Storage Scholars will service 50 campuses by summer 2023 — more than doubling the 23 campuses they served this past academic year.
Chason and Gronberg’s goal is for Storage Scholars to become a national company. Having grown from Winston-Salem, Storage Scholars is grounded on the East Coast and stretches down into the South, through Texas. Chason hopes to break into more cities as well — Boston, New York, Nashville and Los Angeles, to name a few.
Both founders are working from Austin, Texas, right now, Chason said. Made possible by remote work, the move helps the founders as they take their company westward. Storage Scholars is still headquartered in Winston-Salem and has some full-time employees there.
In addition to geographic expansion, Chason told TBJ that he wants to expand across different types of schools, so that Storage Scholars can be the go-to storage service at large state universities, small liberal arts colleges and everywhere in between.
This expansion, along with the ambitious plans ahead, have been aided by the addition of full-time employees. Storage Scholars has grown from two to seven full-time employees in the past year.
The Wake Forest and Winston Starts connection
Storage Scholars has its roots in Winston-Salem, having been started at Wake Forest. Chason and Gronberg were a part of the university’s Center for Entrepreneurship.
They took Storage Scholars to Winston Starts, where the business continued to scale.
Winston Starts and WFU’s Center for Entrepreneurship even hosted a watch party for the "Shark Tank" episode to celebrate the success of one of the Triad’s homegrown businesses.
“We are immensely excited and proud of Matt and Sam and their team. They are impressive young men with a passion for what they do,” said Betsy Brown, vice president of Winston Starts. “This says a lot about student startups coming out of the Wake Forest entrepreneurship program and the program we have here at Winston Starts helping founders scale (and is) fantastic exposure for Winston-Salem as a whole.”
