Whatever Happened To DARTdrones After Shark Tank?

Some of the most intriguing businesses to make their way onto "Shark Tank" are the ones that fill a niche many may not have even thought about before. Such was the case with DARTdrones, which was pitched to the Sharks by entrepreneur Abby Speicher in "Shark Tank" Season 8, Episode 18. Speicher's pitch predicated on the idea that many hobbyists purchase and fly drones, but many don't know how to use them and wind up damaging them. In response, she created DARTdrones, a national drone training school with in-person lessons available for anyone from casual consumers to professionals.

The idea proved to be quite the hit with the show's hosts, though Mark Cuban was the one to snap up a deal of $300,000 for a 15 percent share of the company. Now, the better part of a decade has passed since Speicher walked out the "Shark Tank" door with that solid partnership in tow. As such, some fans may be wondering whether DARTdrones managed to continue its promising take-off, and if the business has successfully stuck the landing in terms of expansion and profitability. Rest assured, DARTdrones is still around today and it's actually doing quite well for itself.

It didn't take long for DARTdrones to see the results of its successful closing of a deal on "Shark Tank" in 2017. According to an official timeline on the company's official site, it quickly expanded by bumping up its number of instructors to 40 and offering online courses in addition to the in-person training. That same year, DARTdrones also began to offer an advanced training curriculum for people wanting to learn drone piloting at a professional level.

Subsequent years have only seen further developments. The business has formulated a STEM curriculum to teach drone instructors how to conduct their own classes. It has also created a DARTdrones Public Safety Grant dedicated to funding drone training for police and fire departments, which has raised more than $500,000 for the cause. As of 2023, DARTdrones operates across more than 25 cities in America, and has trained over 25,000 individual drone pilots.

As for Abby Speicher, she's still working as the CEO of DARTdrones. She has even been recognized for her success in bringing DARTdrones to where it is today, as she was included in Forbes' 30 Under 30 list of successful young tech entrepreneurs in 2018.