TV - Movies
Whatever
Happened To
Cycloramic After
Shark Tank?
By JIM ROWLEY
Cycloramic is a smartphone app that allows users to take 360-degree panoramic photos almost entirely hands-free, using the phone's own vibration options to rotate the device. Bruno Francois, the inventor of the app, went into the tank to pitch his product in January 2014, during Season
5 of "Shark Tank."
Francois asked for a $90,000 investment in exchange for 5% of his company, and he received offers from all five sharks, including guest shark and New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch. In the end, Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner teamed up to offer Francois $500,000 for a 15% equity stake, which he accepted.
In 2019, Francois returned to "Shark Tank" during Season 10 to give an update on the app's progress. Before its first “Shark Tank” appearance, Cycloramic had about 660,000 downloads and about $175,000 in total income, but after the episode aired, the app rocketed to the number one spot on iTunes and brought in $1.5 million in sales.
However, Cycloramic couldn't sustain those impressive numbers for long, and Francois started and sold another digital photography company, Car360, to Carvana for a cool $22 million. Mark Cuban was impressed with Francois' efforts and called it one of Shark Tank's greatest successes.