Everyone agrees that hiccups are annoying. There are many home remedies for hiccups, but none of them work consistently. HiccAway is the only scientifically proven cure for hiccups. Ali Seifi, Victor Feldberg, and Amanda Azarpour marketed the hiccup device on Shark Tank and have a deal with Mark Cuban. HiccAway is valued at $1.5 million through 2024.
Founder Profile
Dr. Ali Seifi, the inventor of the product and an associate professor of neurosurgery at the University of Texas at San Antonio, graduated from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran.
Amanda Azapour is his niece. She is from San Francisco and holds a degree in business marketing from San Jose State University. After graduation, she joined the marketing departments of companies such as Caiman Consulting and Fluke.
Most notably, Amanda has worked as a community manager at Google and a customer solutions manager at Facebook. Not much information is available about the third partner, Victor Feldberg, but he is a serial entrepreneur.
The inspiration behind HiccAway
Ali spent several years studying hiccups. He discovered that to stop hiccups, you can apply a certain amount of pressure to your diaphragm with the water you drink. He then created a straw device that creates the same amount of pressure every time you drink water.
HiccAway was originally called the Forced Inhalation and Swallowing Tool (FISST). He teamed up with Victor in 2017 when they launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised $60,649 from 646 backers.
After receiving the patent, they conducted studies that proved their device worked properly 92% of the time. The duo hired Amanda when they officially launched the product in 2020. A little over a year later, they were doing about $300,000 in sales.
HiccAway’s presentation on Shark Tank
Ali, Vic and Amanda were sure they could get a huge investment. The founders appeared on the show’s 13th season, asking for $250,000 for 10% equity.
After the introduction, the sharks were eager to learn about Seifi’s background and the science behind HiccAway. They presented their research and testimonials, which convinced the sharks.
Barbara Cochran and Lori Greiner thought it was impractical, but Mark Cuban disagreed. Cuban offered $250,000 for 20%, thinking it would become part of everyone’s medicine cabinet. Kevin O’Leary offered 15% for the same amount, but the entrepreneurs chose Mark. At this point, Cuban is almost everyone’s first choice, even if he’s not offering the best deal.
Success after Shark Tank
After appearing on Shark Tank, HiccAway received attention from the likes of Healthline, The Washington Post, The Guardian and The New York Post. The deal with Cuban was finalized shortly after the show aired, a few months later.
The founders also demonstrated their tool at the 2022 ACP Medical Conference and gave away samples. If you want to try this hiccup treatment device, you can buy it on Amazon, Walmart, and their website HiccAway.com. Amanda is still involved, but now works as a project manager at Salesforce.
On Amazon, HiccAway has an average rating of 4.3 from over 4,100 customers. The company hasn’t released any recent sales figures, but should still be generating $300,000 in annual revenue. HiccAway is currently valued at $1.5 million.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: dut.edu.vn
