Home Improvement
ByChristy Rae Ammons
Brush Hero, a company founded in 2015, brought their invention to "Shark Tank" in 2017. Glenn Archer and Kevin Williams showed the sharks their spinning car cleaning brush that is powered by just a garden hose. Though it was designed for automobile detailing, the Brush Hero can be used to effortlessly clean boats, grills, bicycles, patio furniture, bathroom tiles, window panes, airplanes, and recreational vehicles.
Williams, an avid mountain biker, and Archer, a former F-16 pilot, decided to invent their water-powered brush because of their own needs. "As car geeks and riders... we were looking for a solution to our own problems — how to keep our machines clean. We were tired of jamming up our knuckles trying to clean our rides," Williams explained to their potential investors, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Mark Cuban, and Daymond John, on Season 9 Episode 18. The founders were seeking $500,000 for 10% of their company.
What happened to Brush Hero on Shark Tank
During the episode, Archer and Williamsshowed how Brush Hero was able to spin once attached to a hose, allowing the water not only to move the brush but to aid in cleaning. Archer predicted that the company should make $3 million that year. The founders demonstrated their product by washing the tires of a motorcycle and asked the sharks to try it for themselves.
Many of the sharks were skeptical of the product and the proposal. "You're asking me to pay a 20 multiple for a brush. Do you see any problem with that before I eviscerate you?" O'Leary asked the founders. While Herjavec, Cuban, and O'Leary went out quickly, John and Greiner both offered $500,000 for 25% equity, but when Archer and Williams left the room to discuss, the sharks realized there were other, very similar products on the market. This led John to pull out. While Greiner offered another deal — $250,000 as a loan along with another $250k for 25% — Williams and Archer ultimately left with no deal from an investor.
Brush Hero after Shark Tank
While the founders of Brush Hero backed out of any potential deals with Greiner or John, their company grew exponentially after the show. The attention from the television audience helped Brush Hero gain traction, boosting their sales to 500 times what it was previously after the show aired. Unfortunately, the popularity caused fake versions of their product to begin popping up all over Amazon just a few weeks after their appearance on the show. While these counterfeits looked exactly like the original product, they didn't function properly, leading customers to complain about the company despite the fact that they didn't manufacture the faulty brushes. "It was absolutely horrendous," Williams told Inc., explaining that the situation was "pretty much the worst possible scenario."
Luckily, the founders of Brush Hero were able to get their company out of this mess by removing their original Amazon listing, which removed the negative reviews, and creating a new one. While this impacted their total sales for that year, the company still came out of 2018 with $4 million.
Is Brush Hero still in business?
While some online blogs claim that Brush Hero is still operating, all of their products are unavailable on Amazon and Walmart. Though there have been reviews of the cleaning tool on Amazon recently, the company has no official website, and its social media accounts, including Facebook and Instagram, have been inactive since 2020. This makes it unclear if the company is still in business. The founders of Brush Hero developed partnerships with Canadian Tire and Costco after the show, but the product is no longer featured on either company's website.
The Brush Hero and all of its accessories are not available for purchase anywhere at the moment, suggesting that the brushes have stopped being manufactured, despite the influx of recent online reviews. Williams and Archer have both moved onto new business ventures and are no longer involved in operating Brush Hero. In an interview with Practical Ecommerce, Williams explained how Brush Hero helped him find new businesses to work with, leading him to ditch the cleaning product. "It [Brush Hero] grew rapidly in the U.S. and internationally...That gave rise to other e-commerce opportunities. I exited that business in 2020 when it was purchased by a private equity group that also owned a brand called Balls.co."
What's next for Brush Hero's founders?
Dean Drobot/Shutterstock
Archer is currently the Vice President of Justice Intelligence with Equifax Workforce Solutions, which helps law enforcement find missing or wanted people. In 2021, Williams became a partner and CEO of Balls.co, which sells trimmers, lotions, and razors for men. "The notion of running Balls is hilarious to everyone who knows me," Williams said to Practical Ecommerce. "But it's a gift to a marketer to work with an edgy product. If you're going to run a brand called Balls, you have to own it."
While Williams is no longer involved with Brush Hero, his new business ventures seem to be promising with Balls.co selling products in the United States and internationally. The success, Williams explained, is partially due to the comedic name for the product and clever advertising. "Social media channels, Facebook in particular, wouldn't let us run ads with the word 'balls.' We had to get very creative about our messaging," Williams said (via Practical Ecommerce). "We leaned heavily into content marketing instead of a direct response. We invested heavily into our TikTok channel, which did exceptionally well, growing in just a few months to 150 million views and 300,000 followers."
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