SynDaver Labs update: What happened to Christopher Sakezles’ business after Shark Tank?

Christopher Sakezles is a scientist who appeared on Shark Tank season 6 in 2015 to revolutionize medical training for future doctors. He came up with the idea to replace humans and animals with synthetic products to practice surgery.

This innovation impressed all four sharks, as Christopher explained that synthetic cadavers and body parts feel like real ones, giving an identical experience to the traditional learning process. Fortunately, Christopher got a deal, and since then, his business, SynDaver Labs, has flourished.

According to SynDaver Labs' official website, they provide products for surgery, anatomy, pre-hospital training, and veterinary and medical device purposes. Through "high fidelity medical simulation" of humans and animals, SynDaver Labs makes learning easier for aspiring doctors, surgeons, and learners. Christopher Sakezles' website states its mission is to replace "live animals and cadavers."

"SynDaver creates ultra-high-fidelity medical simulation models and task trainers while relentlessly pursuing the universal replacement of live animals, cadavers, and real patients in medical device evaluation, clinical training, and medical simulation."

As of 2024, they have released their new product catalog and have produced more than $10 million in gross revenue each year since they appeared on Shark Tank.

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SynDaver Labs' CEO and Founder Christopher Sakezles' journey on and after Shark Tank season 6

During his pitch on season 6, Christopher brought SynDaver Labs' synthetic cadavers and body parts to demonstrate his product. He mentioned that his company is the only one in the world to produce medical simulation human and animal models.

The Shark Tank contestant elaborated on the price points for each product, with synthetic cadavers costing an estimated $40,000 and human cadavers costing between $5,000 and $10,000. Additionally, all products are long-lasting and reusable.

Explaining the benefits of trauma training, surgical education, and medical device development, Christopher shared his dreams of taking his business to the next level. He admitted to wanting support and guidance from the sharks to help him scale his business at $3,000,000 for 10% equity.

Initially, sharks Lori Greiner and Kevin O’Leary backed out, mentioning that investing in this business on Shark Tank is risky and tricky. Both sharks believed that it would be hard for them to get their money back. Barbara Corcoran, on the other hand, refused to make a deal due to Christopher's outlook on running a business. She thought he wouldn't make a good partner.

Robert Herjavec was the only shark interested in investing in SynDaver Labs. He made a counteroffer of $3 million for 35% equity. Christopher, however, wasn't agreeable to giving away too much equity in his business to an investor. Meanwhile, Mark Cuban suggested that Christopher's original offer of 10% equity was too risky to gamble money on.

Then Robert decided to change his offer to $3 million for an exchange of 25% equity, which the Shark Tank contestant agreed to. After the ABC show, SynDaver Labs is still successful and has included a segment of training veterinarians.

In 2022, their total yearly revenue was estimated to be between $4 and $5 million, with the company valued at $26 million. Christopher has participated in philanthropic causes, donating $250,000 to provide learners with stimulation products for practicing on their products.

According to SynDaver Labs' website, they have started consumer product evaluation and ballistics testing. They also provide customized models and synthetic human and animal tissues:

"Live animals are often employed in these tests because they have traditionally been the best model available for simulating the complexity of human anatomy and physiology."

It further elaborates:

"SynDaver and SynTissue brand human and animal products possess a unique feature set that enables them to be substituted for live animals, human cadavers and other models in these tests."

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Viewers can watch Christopher Sakezles’ journey by streaming Shark Tank on ABC and Hulu.