What Happened To Scan From Shark Tank Season 5?
Of all the businesses that have appeared on "Shark Tank," few have enjoyed the towering success that Scan found after showcasing itself on the program. Scan was featured in Season 5, Episode 4 of "Shark Tank" in 2013. The company's founder, Garrett Gee, launched the business in college with two classmates. The tool allows users to instantly create scannable codes that link to digital destinations. QR codes, NFC connectivity, and other codes have ballooned in usage in the years since Scan was made, and even a decade ago, when Gee pitched the idea to the Sharks, his business had already enjoyed over 50 million downloads by users.
However, the Sharks weren't sold on the idea. "Are you concerned that QR codes are becoming dodo birds?" Mark Cuban asked Gee seconds into his presentation. "Not impressed," he adds later on. Daymond John pulled out quickly, voicing his opinion that Gee wasn't primarily looking for money but instead needed exposure for his product that the appearance would generate. Gee left the room without a deal but sold the company less than a year later.
The scanning application was gobbled up by Snapchat
In December 2014, Snapchat purchased Scan for $54 million (with some details coming into public view due to the Sony Pictures hack). The investment Garrett Gee was seeking as he entered the Tank was for $1 million in exchange for a 5% share. This valuation put the Sharks on guard, setting his business valuation at $20 million. "Shark Tank" pitches sometimes involve high-value businesses, but they are often much smaller enterprises, leading the Sharks to balk at larger valuations when pitched. In this case, though, it would seem that Gee and his colleagues were onto something since Snapchat purchased the brand for more than twice the valuation taken to "Shark Tank."
QR codes and other scannable fixtures remain a part of daily life for people worldwide. Paying a bill or instantly populating contact information, pulling up a menu, or sending a visitor to a target website can all be accomplished with this technology, and two applications developed by the company remain in circulation: "QR Code Reader" and "Scan."
Garrett Gee has launched a new, family-focused venture off the sale
Garrett Gee and his family were able to begin traveling after the sale was finalized. Rather than living off the profits of his breakout success, the Gees sold virtually all of their belongings and took off on an adventure with their children. The result has been The Bucket List Family, an online blog and community that documents their travels and sustains them through Instagram, a YouTube channel, and their website.
The success story of Scan is intimately connected to Gee himself, and the new adventures that he and his family have embarked on are a direct result of the pitch he gave to the Sharks. Even though the business wasn't successful in yielding a cash investment from one of the Sharks, the appearance certainly played a role in the company's trajectory and the new opportunity that its founder has been able to create.