Local on-the-go breakfast startup watched sales sink amid Covid. Then ‘Shark Tank’ called.

Nahum Jeannot opened 2020 with high hopes, proposing to his girlfriend in January and expecting a “breakout year” for his on-the-go snack startup, GoOats LLC.

Then the chef-turned-entrepreneur lost his job amid Covid-19. Buying patterns changed. Company revenue disappeared, he said. “We were just trying to weather the storm.”

That’s when a casting producer from ABC’s “Shark Tank” reached out — bad timing, he said.

“The last thing I want to do is go there and get eviscerated by Mr. Wonderful,” Jeannot said of his initial reaction to the opportunity. “But I started to sit, and I prayed, and I’m like, ‘You know what? Let’s just go for it, because this is what we have; we have to do the best with what we have in front of us.’”

Breakout year?

The big break came Oct. 23, when his segment played out to a national audience. The local founder pitched the business to the show’s panel of celebrity investors — and Barbara Corcoran took a bite, ultimately agreeing to $150,000 in exchange for a 20% equity stake.

You can watch the episode here.

GoOats, with its bite-sized oatmeal ball, is picking up speed after a slow start. The company sold out in stores and online within 48 hours of the episode’s airing, and it's still playing catch-up on production, Jeannot said.

The publicity is also making a difference to the business’ top line; GoOats projects it’ll generate more than $2 million in revenue next year. That’s a massive jump from the $57,000 the company has taken in so far in 2020.

“When you’re in so little stores, there’s only so much revenue that you could make,” Jeannot said. “We just needed the exposure.”

The show gave GoOats just that, now with new deals for grocery stores from California to Texas amid conversations with more, he said. “We’re already starting to get some traction, and that’s the goal, get into as many retailers as possible.”

Jeannot declined to disclose the status of negotiations with Corcoran, citing the nondisclosure agreement. But, he said, the investment “is what we’re going to need to scale this thing.” It was also about wanting “a strategic partner that could help us open doors, and that could help us navigate the pitfalls that smaller brands have to face, and to help us avoid those,” he said. “That was our goal in getting that deal with Barbara and that’s what we expect that relationship to bring.”

Fast facts

Getting here

Jeannot, a Philadelphia native with parents of Caribbean descent, started the company after landing his first restaurant job at age 16, attending culinary school and rising through the ranks in the food business — from busboy to executive chef.

He came up with the GoOats concept in his most recent gig at the Hyatt Regency Tysons Corner Center, where he was charged with writing a breakfast menu comprising micro foods guests could pick up and eat while walking around — chicken and waffles on a stick, mini eggs Benedicts — back in 2015. He added a portable oatmeal ball to that list.

“I don’t know what it was, but there was just something different about this creation and I couldn’t shake it,” he said.

So he got to work and launched in 16 Whole Foods Market stores in summer 2017, delivering product and stocking shelves before work and holding demos on weekends. Two years later, he nabbed a deal for 62 locations — the chain’s entire Mid-Atlantic region, he said. “That was the big break that we needed.” Soon, he invested in equipment, moved from food business accelerator Frontier Kitchen in Lorton to an Alexandria facility, and brought on mentor Alvin Chun as a partner. Today, GoOats has an eight-person product team, and Jeannot is running the business full time.

Jeannot funded GoOats with “whatever funds I had saved,” he said. He took on credit card debt, sold his new 2015 Mustang, dipped into his 401(k), moved out of his condo into a basement and pumped any money he saved back into the business. He personally invested at least $150,000. And he received $25,000 from a friend, Stephanie Etienne, who “just wanted to help” and is now part of the team, he said.

Jeannot’s faith keeps him going and “is even greater these days,” he said. “I’ve been given the opportunity to build something here and I’m simply looking to steward it the best way I can.”

GoOats joins a growing list of local “Shark Tank” alumni, including a handful who have scored deals just this year and others continuing to reap the benefits. Here’s a look at that network.