Here's What Went Down With SmartGurlz Coding Robot Dolls After Shark Tank
Sharmi Kneller (nee Albrechtsen) is the woman behind the doll encouraging more young girls to get into coding. The entrepreneur is the name behind SmartGurlz, a collection of dolls that connect to an app that asks users to code in order to make the dolls move. Kneller founded the business in 2016, determined to make the tech world a more exciting and inclusive place for her daughter. Kneller explained to Bustle in 2018 that the concept came about after she bought her little girl a robot and noticed she wasn't overly interested in the toy as it wasn't targeted towards young girls. "The themes of the robots on the market were too boy-oriented — focused around fighting, shooting and even blades — instead of story-based characters," she said. From there, Kneller went and developed her own robot geared more towards girls, which is how SmartGurlz was born.
The company's big break then came by chance, as Kneller explained to Medium that she took her robot doll concept to the Las Vegas' Consumer Electronics Show. While there, a "Shark Tank" producer was so excited by the product they didn't even ask her to pitch it to them. "[He saw] the 'excitement' — he chatted with me for 20 min and then said 'no need to pitch — you are on to the next round!'" she recalled. And it took just eight months for Kneller to find herself pitching to the Sharks themselves.
SmartGurlz's aim impressed Daymond John
SmartGurlz appeared on Season 9 of "Shark Tank," which aired in November 2017. Sharmi Kneller (who then went by Sharmi Albrechtsen) introduced the concept to regular Sharks Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner, and Mark Cuban as well as one very impressive guest Shark for the episode, Richard Branson (who was also around to see Simple Habit's "Shark Tank" pitch). She explained she was looking for $200,000 and offering 5% of her company in exchange. Kneller explained her aim of getting more young girls into technology, even having two little girls enter the Tank playing with the toy and show the Sharks how to use the app.
The Sharks showed a lot of interest in the product, especially after Kneller explained she was producing the dolls for around $18 and selling it for almost $80. Daymond John made it clear that he wanted to licence the idea, explaining he saw big benefits in getting girls into engineering early. Only, he wanted 30% of the company for $200,000. But Kneller didn't have quite as much luck with the other Sharks. Robert Herjavec dropped out, claiming he thought the toy business was in too much of a decline. Lori Grenier was also out after a past bad experience with Barbie, encouraging Kneller to go with John's offer. Branson and Cuban also dropped out. With only John willing to hand over cash, Kneller bartered with the entrepreneur and the two eventually settled on $200,000 for 25% equity.
SmartGurlz landed millions more funding after Shark Tank
In July 2018, round seven months after SmartGurlz's "Shark Tank" episode aired, Sharmi Kneller revealed just how much expansion the company had seen. "We now have more than $1.2 million in sales, are working with Walmart on a brand new product line for 2019 and have got a new partnership with Girl Scouts in America. Most excitingly, we recently gained the legendary Kari Byron from 'MythBusters' on board as our Chief Creative Officer," she told Business2Community. The company also expanded its repertoire to include Smart Buddies, which aimed to teach children more about coding in schools. However, the official website is no longer available.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Kneller confirmed on LinkedIn that the company underwent another round of funding post-"Shark Tank," bringing in $2.7 million from investment companies including the NYU Investment Fund and Morgan Stanley. She also revealed that SmartGurlz was worth $9 million in 2020 and had reached a slew of other massive milestones, including selling around 50,000 units of the robots seen on "Shark Tank" to bring in over $3.2 million. Very impressive!
The future of SmartGurlz is unclear
Though SmartGurlz still has a presence on the web, it seems the company may have fallen into somewhat of a lull as of June 2024. The dolls are still listed for sale on the SmartGurlz official website, but each one is out of stock at the time of writing with no indication when they will be available to purchase. The product is also out of stock via the many retail outlets it was sold to, including Walmart. Another sign SmartGurlz may no longer be operating in the way it once was? It stopped updating its social media accounts, and, if fellow "Shark Tank" business Sunscreenr is anything to go by, that's not a great sign. SmartGurlz's Instagram page has also been deactivated and, although its X (formerly known as Twitter) page is still available, it hasn't been updated since 2021. Smart Buddies Instagram and Facebook accounts have also been abandoned since 2021.
We also know that Kari Bryon has parted ways with the company. After serving as SmartGurlz's chief creative officer from May 2018, her LinkedIn confirms she left that role in August 2020.
Sharmi Kneller has co-founded another business
While the future of SmartGurlz looks dimmer than it did during its "Shark Tank" days, it seems founder Sharmi Kneller has been able to devote her talents to other business ventures. According to her LinkedIn page, at the time of writing, she still serves as CEO of SmartGurlz but has added another string to her entrepreneurial bow. She began working as the chairman and co-founder (alongside her business partner Crystal Carroll) of Simply Shroom Cafes in Scottsdale, Arizona in March 2023. That business appears quite different from SmartGurlz, but is apparently still focused on uplifting women, as the cafes offer safe spaces for women to enjoy plant-based coffee.
But despite seemingly shifting her focus away from SmartGurlz, Kneller hasn't forgotten her aim of making tech more accessible to women and girls. She confirmed in a 2023 LinkedIn post that she would be one of the speakers for Women's History Month at Google's Knowledge and Innovation Summit. She also shared what she planned to speak about, revealing that she would focus on why it's so important to get more people who identify as female into the world of science, technology, engineering, and math. With all that under her belt, she could soon join the ranks as one of "Shark Tank"'s most successful female entrepreneurs.