Just three months after smartphone breathalyzer company Breathometer pitched its product on ABC show Shark Tank Breathometer's sales grew from $140,000 to $1 million. The company's pitch on the show resulted in an unprecedented $1 million investment from all five investors.
Breathometer is also moving on to new health conditions like halitosis, dehydration, diabetes, and asthma.
The Shark Tank investors' contribution was part of a $2 million round. The other $1 million came from Structure Capital VC and Dillon Hill Capital.
"Since Shark Tank, it's been crazy busy," CEO Charles Michael Yim said in an update that aired recently on the show. "We've gotten a ton of preorders, actually more than we can even catch up with...We had to scale up our production just to keep up with the demand."
Though the company was initially manufacturing about 1,000 units a week, they are now producing 15,000 units a week. In another update, Yim added that the company hopes to reach $10 million to $12 million in sales by the end of 2014.
Breathometer is a peripheral device that plugs into a smartphone's headphone jack. It then connects to a companion app that displays the user's blood alcohol concentration. The device costs $49 and is available on Breathometer's website as well as at select retailers.
The Shark Tank investors include Kevin O'Leary, founder of software company SoftKey; Lori Greiner, host of the cable TV show Clever & Unique Creations by Lori Greiner; Mark Cuban, owner of Landmark Theaters, NBA's Dallas Mavericks, and Magnolia Pictures; Daymond John, founder and CEO of clothing brand Fubu; and Robert Herjavec, founder of technology company The Herjavec Group.
"Working with all five sharks has been amazing," Yim said. "Each brings value to the table in a very different, unique way. Kevin has been helping us with international distribution, Mark has been instrumental in bringing us to big box retailers, Lori is working on helping us get on QVC, Robert and Daymond have helped us with distribution here in the US, but on top of that they have really helped us refine our branding."
