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Shark Tank season 16 aired episode 4 on ABC on November 8, 2024. The episode once again brought some exciting deals to the fore which reflected the perseverance of its founders. In this segment, the panel of original sharks was joined by a guest, Daniel Lubetzky, who walked home with investments in brands like Fysh Foods.
Entreprenuers Zoya and Alix introduced their vegan fish company called Fysh Foods. They explained that their firm sold vegan alternatives for fish cut out for sushi, such as salmon and yellowtail. Both Zoya and Alix had a food background, which was apparent from the compliments they got from the sharks when they made them taste sushi made with their vegan fish.
While all the other sharks were out of the deal, Daniel stayed on. He wanted the company for a 40% stake from the original 10% they had asked for $150k. After a lot of back and forth between the duo and the shark, they finally sealed the deal at 30%.
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Fysh Foods' pitch on Shark Tank season 16 episode 4
Zoya and Alix, a couple from Los Angeles, California, appeared on Shark Tank with an ask of $150k for a 10% stake in their company. They started their pitch by stating that a plate of sushi in current age was ridden with mercury, parasites, and microplastic.
Their company was called Finneato Fysh Foods and it sold plant-based fish foods, which were made by chefs in the kitchen and not developed in labs like other vegan alternatives of fish. Explaining this, Zoya said:
"Our plant-based raw fish is made from a unique blend of organic fruits, vegetables, sea algae, and fermentation magic".
A blend of these ingredients gave them almost the real taste of tuna, salmon, and yellowtail. On top of that, this Shark Tank product also boasted omega 3, iron, fiber, and much more. The advantage of their product was that it was easy for the chefs to use it in myriad other dishes such as ceviche, poke, sushi, etc, and it lasted way longer than actual fish.
Zoya said she did private chef work in the past, while Alix added that she helped build the largest food social network, BuzzFeed Tasty. With their experience, the duo mentioned that they garnered 3 million followers on their social media.
When the sharks asked about the sales though, they said they only made $52k the last year, selling B2B, for wholesale, only in Los Angeles. They said that they weren't selling directly to customers yet, but wanted to. They added that they took $4 to produce a pound and sold it for $10-$13, which was way cheaper than actual fish which went for $20-$40.
Kevin called them out for not using their 3 million followers to sell the product directly to consumers. They said they couldn't because they needed funding, yet he was out. Robert was out because he wasn't impressed with the sales and Mark got out because he thought it was hard to scale it.
Daniel, the guest shark, offered them $150k for 40% of their company. When the girls hesitated to take it, Kevin said they could be living in a shack by the river if they refused Daniel's deal. Mark quipped that they could also be handing out jets to their children if they refused the deal.
The duo asked Daniel to come down to 20%, and he countered it with 35%. They came up to 25%, but he made the final deal to be at 30%. They took it and walked out of Shark Tank with a deal.
Shark Tank season 16 airs new episodes every Friday, at 8 pm ET, on ABC.
