Ash & Anvil
Ash & Anvil is an apparel company from Detroit, MI, that specializes in making clothes for "smaller" men. The "Ash" in the name refers to Detroit's city moto while "Anvil" refers to the city's manufacturing history.
The company was founded by two entrepreneurs who actually relocated to Detroit to start the business.
The market that the company aims to cater toward are men shorter than 5'8". The entrepreneurs claims that over over a third of Americans are 5'8" or below. Their average customer is 5'6" tall.
In just nine months, Ash & Anvil has sold $130,000 in apparel, all of it direct to consumer online. They claim to have 900 customers but there was no mention of how often those customers return.
Their shirts sell for $79 with an average margin of 55%. They would like to expand from just shirts into shorts, chinos, and jeans.
They claim that they would like the shark's help with their biggest challenge, managing inventory, claiming that they have sold through their entire inventory twice.
This deal aired on Episode 9.05.
Making A Deal
The entrepreneurs accepted Mark's offer of $150,000 for 25% equity. This represents $50,000 more than was being asked for in return for 10% more equity. The two didn't quite cancel each other out and Mark still took a bite of $200,000 from the company's original valuation.