Washington, D.C. startup Surprise Ride turned down an offer when founders Donna and Rosy Khalife appeared on ABC's Shark Tank in 2013, feeling that they could get farther on their own than with the offer on the table. But for the first time ever, a Shark has come back to a contestant with a new offer, and this time, the sisters have accepted. Kevin O'Leary (Mr. Wonderful) has made a $50,000 investment in Surprise Ride for a 2.5 percent stake in the startup on Beyond the Tank. More importantly, he's become a part of the marketing team and will help scale the company far beyond where it is today.
"50 grand isn't much compared to what a startup needs to grow, but it's not about investment in terms of monetary value," Rosy Khalife explained to me in an interview. "It's about Kevin's marketing value. "That's worth millions in itself. We're excited to be working with him on customer acquisition and growth."
O'Leary came to visit Surprise Ride almost a year ago, appropriately making a surprise visit, and declared himself impressed with how the company has managed to vastly outpace the goals they set in their Shark Tank appearance, with more than $1 million in sales in 2015 of the monthly package of activities for kids the company makes.
"We proved we could do it our own way first. Now, we're super honored to be the first company that kind of return investment has happened with," Khalife said. "We're so happy to be part of the Mr.Wonderful family. His network is so vast, it will really help as we focus on growth."
Anybody who's even heard of me knows I don't believe in second chances but sometimes a product is just that good! #SharkTank #SurpriseRide
— Kevin O'Leary (@kevinolearytv) March 23, 2016
#SurpriseRide has potential to make some SERIOUS #cashflow. They just need the right shark to pour some gasoline on the fire & that's ME!
— Kevin O'Leary (@kevinolearytv) March 23, 2016
The show was actually supposed to air last fall, but kept getting pushed back by circumstances outside Surprise Ride's control. Now that it's officially public, Khalife said they plan to leverage their new deal in a big way. Despite O'Leary's Boston base and possible other temptations, Surprise Ride isn't making any moves to leave the area.
"We're not going anywhere, there's such an open and supportive community," Khalife said. "We love D.C."
