Woobles’ latest valuation after Shark Tank

Woobles sells kits that teach people how to make cute crochet animals. The company started as a $200 hobby and is now a million-dollar business. Founders Justine Tiu and Adrian Zhang appeared on Season 14 and signed on with Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner. As of 2024, Woobles is valued at $7.5 million.

Founder

Justine Tiu and Adrian Zhang are a couple from Apex, North Carolina who first met while attending Duke University, where Justine was majoring in electrical and computer engineering and Adrian was majoring in biomedical engineering and economics.

After graduation, Tiu worked as a UX Designer and Product Quality Assistant at Google. A year later, she was promoted to Senior UX Designer and became a Senior UX Instructor at Kenzie Academy in 2018.

On the other hand, Zhang started his career as an assistant at JPMorgan Chase, specializing in stock trading algorithms. Four years later, the trader was hired as a director at Deutsche Bank.

Founding Woobles

Despite their high-paying corporate positions, Justin and Adrian were unhappy with their careers. Tiu quit her job at Google, while Zhang worked on Wall Street for seven years without getting anywhere.

After the outbreak, they began to learn crochet. The couple likes to knit small animals with wool, which inspired them to start a business together.

The couple started The Woobles in July 2020, selling six adorable crochet pets that came with a beginner kit and video tutorial. Within a year, they had hit $1 million in sales. As of September 2022, the company has made $5.3 million in lifetime sales!

Featured on Shark Tank

Justine Tiu and Adrian Zhang were approached by an ABC producer about appearing on Shark Tank in early 2022. The producer had read an article about their online crochet shop in a magazine and thought it would be a good fit for the show.

The couple was hesitant, thinking reality TV wasn’t for them. In the end, Tiu and Zhang accepted the offer because they knew it could be a game-changer for their business. The publicity that Shark Tank brought was hard to turn down.

Shark Tank Appearance

The couple was looking to raise $250,000 for a 5% equity stake. Based on their sales, they had a fair valuation for the business and were eager to get the Shark family on board. The Shark family liked the product because it generated strong cash flow and had high profit margins.

All the Sharks wanted a piece of the action, so a bidding war began! Cuban pushed Barbara Corcoran aside and teamed up with Lowry to make the deal. Tiu and Zhang gladly accepted the $450,000 offer for 6%.

After Shark Tank

After Shark Tank, Tiu and Zhang saw a huge increase in orders, and the couple was well prepared. Before, they made their products by hand, but they struck a manufacturing deal with a Chinese company. This will help them scale up production and increase profit margins in the long run.

Mark Cuban revealed to BizJournals.com that the deal was not completed after the show ended. Cuban believed that the couple just wanted to be famous, so they chose not to complete the deal.

You can buy their kits at TheWoobles.com, Amazon, and Etsy. The company is working to get into big box retailers like Target and Joanne. Woobles is looking to expand internationally, as they are only available in the United States and Canada.

They have an average 5-star review from over 2,400 Etsy users. People love their crochet creations, and the company is thriving. The Woobles made $3.1 million in 2021 and are expecting annual revenue of $7 million in 2022. Currently, the company is valued at $7.5 million!

For now, they are still selling crochet items, but will eventually expand into other products. As mentioned in the promotion, licensing and wholesale are the two major channels for expansion. Given the company’s strong growth, their sales will soon exceed $10 million.

Categories: Shark Tank
Source: dut.edu.vn