Shark Tank update: What happened to Clean Bottle after its appearance on the show?

The Clean Bottle company made an appearance on Season 3, Episode 1 of "Shark Tank," which aired back in January 2012. The company was founded in 2010, with entrepreneur David Mayer creating a plastic sports bottle that was designed to be easily disassembled to make “thorough cleaning and air-drying a breeze. Both the top and bottom unscrewed, and the nozzle could pop right out.” 

This easily accessible product was designed for athletes like runners and cyclists. As there was a low-cost marketing effort, the company entrepreneur was able to impress the sharks. After much negotiation, Mark Cuban held firm, and David Mayer accepted his offer of $60,000 for 8%. 

As per Food Republic, the company still continues to sell its products directly through one of the biggest online websites, Amazon, and they reportedly "wholesale to both retailers and companies looking for branded merchandise. The Facebook and Instagram pages remain active — though there have not been any hints as to what future products."

What happened to Clean Bottle after their successful run on Shark Tank

After Clean Company gained popularity on Shark Tank, David Mayer tried his hand at yet another product called The Runner. As described, this “water bottle sleeve could also hold a smartphone so that any athlete could have easy access to their device while exercising.”

However, things did not go as planned, as there was a serious fundraising failure while trying to launch The Runner on Kickstarter. The entrepreneur made a few corrections and later pitched another product called The Square. 

This newly launched bottle had similar easy-to-clean disassembly features, but other than that, it was "made out of stainless steel and had a sleeker square shape created with input from Apple engineers." The Kickstarter campaign was extremely successful and managed to raise more than $126,000.Although the campaign unveiled several complaints about “shipping issues, faulty bottles, and serious problems with leaking.”

Is Clean Bottle still running in business today

Clean Bottle made a big decision in 2018 as the company explored a partnership or acquisition opportunity. By the end of the year in December, a private investment firm called Split Peak, LLC, reportedly acquired the company.  As a press release was issued on Bicycle Retailer, David Mayer stated,

 "We have worked hard for the previous eight years to prove the market need for this solution, and we are ready to see that taken to the next level with new ownership."

The  CEO of Split Peak, Brandon Bernardo, said,

"We believe the reusable bottle market offers enormous opportunity and we are excited about our acquisition of Clean Bottle. The Clean Bottle brand includes outstanding products with strong intellectual property and we look forward to leveraging the resources of Split Peak to expand the existing operations and provide Clean Bottle's customers with new and exciting products."

Clean Bottle is reportedly still in business but has been reintroduced by a new name — The Clean Hydration Company. As per the portfolio,  it includes “a stainless steel bottle, tumbler, and mug; the standard and infuser-compatible plastic square-shaped bottles; and two different-sized sports bottles.  As per Food Republic, while the majority of the reviews are quite positive, there have been some occasional complaints about “leaking, design flaws, and prices.”

Stay tuned for more updates.