Chicago food startup Quevos hit national television on Friday night with an appearance on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” landing a deal from KIND Snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky.
Lubetzky offered Quevos a $200,000 investment and a $200,000 line of credit in exchange for 10% equity in the company during the episode, which aired Jan. 22.
Quevos, founded by Nick Hamburger and Zack Schreier, makes snack chips out of egg whites. The startup says they're able to pack the nutrition of an omelette into a bag of chips.
“Shark Tank,” a reality TV show in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of celebrity investors, like Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner, is often a great opportunity for budding companies to land funding as well as exposure to millions of viewers.
Quevos’ chip has the consistency of a Popchip, and is low carb, gluten-free and high in protein. Each bag has 8 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber and 4 grams of net carbs. Quevos comes in flavors like sour cream and onion, dill pickle, quevos rancheros and honey mustard. Since crafting its first chip, Quevos has tweaked its recipe.
“We’re always taking feedback and improving,” said Hamburger, who dropped out of the University of Chicago in 2018 to pursue Quevos.
Quevos is now sold in more than 1,000 individual retail locations, such as Whole Foods and The Vitamin Shoppe stores. But online sales are still 80% of the business, Hamburger said, adding that most consumers buy the chips on Amazon. The chips are manufactured at a facility in Chicago’s McKinley Park neighborhood.
In 2019, Quevos revenue was about $260,000, Hamburger said. In 2020, Quevos did $1.1 million.
Quevos landed a spot on “Shark Tank” after one of the show’s producers reached out to the founders and encouraged them to apply, Hamburger said. The episode was filmed in August in Las Vegas, and required Hamburger and Schreier to quarantine beforehand.
Quevos' "Shark Tank" episode
“We couldn’t leave our hotel for eight days prior to going into the tank, so we had a lot of time to practice,” Hamburger said.
“But we were very nervous,” Hamburger said about filming the episode. “Honestly, the most nerve-racking part was just waiting for the doors to open.”
In its three years since launching, Quevos has landed a distribution deal with Peapod and won the University of Chicago's College New Venture Challenge, taking home the first place prize and $15,000.
It was also one of five companies accepted into Kraft Heinz’s Springboard, an incubator program that helps food entrepreneurs turn their businesses into thriving CPG brands. And in 2019, Quevos launched a Kickstarter campaign, blowing through its $10,000 goal in just two hours and ultimately raising $71,000.
Besides the Kickstarter campaign, Quevos has raised more than $2 million to date from venture capital firms like Chicago's Sandalphon Capital and angel investors like Cameo Founder Steven Galanis and Draftbit co-founder Brian Luerssen.
Several Chicago-based startups have appeared on Shark Tank before, including Guard Llama, Seriously Slime and ChangEd. Even if startups don’t receive investments from the show, the exposure they receive can have other effects that ultimately boost a startup’s bottom line.
Hamburger said he’s looking forward to the attention Quevos is poised to receive after the episode airs, saying he expects inventory to sell out. And with his business on the rise, he says it’s unlikely he’ll head back to college.
“I’m on my third year off from UChicago,” Hamburger said. “And I’m hoping to never have to go back.”
Editor's note, Jan. 23, 2021: This story has been updated to reflect the investment offer Quevos received during the "Shark Tank" episode.
