Veganism has become a movement in the current date. With more and more people shifting towards more plant-based alternatives, there is a surge in demand for good-quality vegan alternatives for common meat staples like bacon.
Understanding the market shifts, founders Amanda Stiles and Beth Zotter created and launched Umaro Bacon, a vegan bacon alternative. You might not realize it from the look of it but the bacon is made out of seaweed.
Taking the brand to Shark Tank, the product left the Sharks in awe and they struck gold after bagging a deal with Mark Cuban. With consistent growth, the brand is currently worth $15 million.
Contents
| Business details: | Seaweed made Bacon |
| Founders name: | Amanda Stiles Beth Zotter |
| Founded in: | 2018 |
| Location (Country): | Albany, California, USA |
| Investment Asked by Company: | $500,000 for 2% equity |
| Sharks on board (Investors): | Mark Cuban |
| Accepted Deals: | $1 million for 7% equity |
| Shark Tank Episode: | Season 13 Episode 18 |
| Net Worth | $15 million |
| Business Status: | Active |
| Social Media | Facebook |
| Last Updated: | July 05, 2024 |
As we mentioned, Umaro Bacon was created and founded by Amanda Stiles and Beth Zotter. Amanda is a research scientist, who has a Ph.D. in plant molecular biology, which goes to show that she has utilized her knowledge and turned that into a multi-million dollar business.
Beth, on the other hand, graduated with a Master’s degree in energy and resources from the University of California. They met when Amanda came for her postdoctoral research at Beth’s College.
Both of them have worked in entirely different backgrounds and companies after their graduation but had a very similar idea when it came to a business model and somehow it clicked.
The creation of Umaro Bacon, to people’s disbelief, starts with Beth. She was working with the Department of Energy to create seaweed farms when she realized that these plant-based elements are rich in protein.
However, to further solidify her idea and work on it and turn it into a business, she needed help and guidance from someone who specialized in plant biology and stepped in Amanda.
Upon discussion, both Beth and Amanda were pretty motivated to bring their vision to life. They worked for a few weeks to months to perfect their ideology before finally launching Umaro in 2018 as the world’s first vegan bacon alternative.
Within four years, they managed to raise $3 million in investments, which propelled the company’s growth further.
Following starting their business, both Beth and Amanda realized that they need further capital to make their manufacturing extensive and scale things up.
That’s when they appeared on Season 13 of Shark Tank, pitching $500,000 for 2% equity. Besides bacon, the company was also in the process of introducing different other types of plant-based meat alternatives.
Being vegetarian himself, Mark Cuban was pretty impressed by the idea where he offered $1 million for a 7% stake in the company.
There isn’t any confirmation whether or not Umaro’s deal with Mark has gone through or not. But, irrespective of that, the company boomed after its Shark Tank appearance.
The brand still hasn’t made its product available to the public since its business model primarily focused on supplying vegan restaurants with raw materials. They are working with multiple restaurants across different areas in the U.S.
As of 2024, the company is valued at $15 million. They are currently in the process of introducing new products, improving their taste, and making them accessible to the public.
Umaro Bacon is now served in over 150 restaurants and is in talks with Walmart to sell it in stores. With support from Mark Cuban, the company plans to expand to 400 Walmart stores across the USA.
As of 2023, Umaro Bacon is still in business. They received additional investments from AgFunder and NBA player Chris Paul.
On Shark Tank, Mark Cuban had invested $1 million in Umaro. However there was a disagreement between the two parties regarding the product price and taste. Mark wanted to focus on improving the taste and lowering the price. After some resistance, the founders eventually took Mark’s advice to avoid potential issues.
Umaro already had initial success when they appeared on Shark Tank. However, their business further took off after their appearance on Shark Tank, enabling them to grow and expand and they are now available in 150+ restaurants.
The company’s CEO is Beth Zotter and CTO is Amanda Stiles and the two of them are the reason behind the company’s growth and expansion.
Umaro Bacon currently has a valuation of $70 million and it is estimated to grow exponentially further in the coming years.
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