Whatever Happened To GeoOrbital After Shark Tank?
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In Season 9 of the popular reality television show "Shark Tank," the assembled investors reviewed a novel pitch from GeoOrbital. This particular company was led by Dakota Decker and Michael Burtov, and they had the idea of crafting an interchangeable bike wheel that is powered by a battery. This means that a GeoOrbital wheel would be capable of transforming any normal bike into a motorized one, and considering it uses a battery, it was presented as an effective means of reducing emissions. With the boom in green technologies, one would expect that GeoOrbital would have been a slam dunk.
Popping up in Season 9, Episode 7, GeoOrbital asked the "Shark Tank" investors for $500,000 for 5% of the company, and some of the Sharks even tried a GeoOrbital wheel for a spin around the "Shark Tank" studio. However, many of the Sharks backed out almost immediately for a multitude of reasons — such as comfortability with a retrofitted wheel or the rather steep cost of $950 per wheel, and GeoOrbital left without a deal. Luckily, the company wasn't deterred by this rejection, and the GeoOrbital wheel was available through Amazon, Brookstone, and Best Buy following its appearance on "Shark Tank." But while the GeoOrbital wheel is not available for purchase for unknown reasons these days, the company is still around.
GeoOrbital still exists, but is no longer selling their electric wheel
Despite being turned down by "Shark Tank," GeoOrbital went on to secure plenty of outside investments and financing, which may be due to the "Shark Tank" effect. The company was able to raise well over $1 million from StartEngine, and was named by Time Magazine in 2019 as one of the top 100 new inventions. Unfortunately, GeoOrbital co-founder Dakota Decker left the company that same year, and by the middle of 2020, many of the company's social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook stopped posting any sort of updates. In addition, GeoOrbital is no longer listed as for sale on either the company's website – which is still in operation — or Amazon, which says that the product is not available.
This is a rather curious development, considering that GeoOrbital still maintains an online presence on both their own site and LinkedIn, though they have certainly fallen into neglect. The fact remains that GeoOrbital is in some kind of limbo with nary a word from the company on any sort of update as to their status. The last information about GeoOrbital suggests that it was seeking $100 million in outside investment in 2021 and offering its shares in return. In other words, while GeoOrbital still exists, the company does not seem to currently be producing any new wheels, nor is its product available in any shape or form outside of a second-hand market.