Shark Tank is an American reality show where different small and emerging startups & businesses pitch their idea to get an investment for their business. The reality show started in 2009, and 13 seasons have been aired to date. Several businesses have changed their fortune by getting the Shark Tank judges on board with their investments.
It’s a franchise of Dragon’s Den that started in Japan under the name Money Tigers in 2001. The investors on a panel of Shark Tank are called Sharks, and after listening to a business pitch and questioning, they decide if to invest in a business or not. However, a general perception that every handshake on the show is executed is wrong.
After the initial willingness of the Sharks, the due diligence, business analysis, and valuation are done. It’s done to see if the business is actually of the worth as claimed by the founders. According to a member of Shark Tank, Kevin O’Leary, around 20% of deals made on the show are not executed due to several problems inside the businesses.
Hopscotch is a business from the IT industry that the founder pitched in season 12 of Shark Tank. In this article, we will be discussing what happened to Hopscotch after Shark Tank and a lot more. So let’s get into it.
What Is Hopscotch?
Hopscotch is the coding solution for kids that enables them to construct scripts and coding blocks and use interactive coding to convert them into playable and shareable games. The app has a user-friendly interface and an interactive way of teaching the kids how to code. The app has drag-and-drop functionality to facilitate kids between 6 and 16.
Even before getting on Shark Tank, Hopscotch was quite a popular programming app for kids. It helps in developing coding abilities in children. However, reportedly, the downloads of the Hopscotch app increased by 500% after the founder participated in Season 12 of Shark Tank.
Founder Of Hopscotch
Samantha John is the co-founder and CEO of Hopscotch, and she was the one to represent Hopscotch on Shark Tank. She also headed the Hopscotch Technologies section and did her degree in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University, New York.
Samantha John belongs to Brooklyn, New York, and she has been featured in numerous 30 under 30 of BBC, Business Insider, Elle Magazine, etc. She started Hopscotch 10 years before, and her vision is to become an inspiration for young coders and empower the kids to learn independently.
If we have a sneak peek into her personal life, she was born in 1985, and she had worked at Pivotal Labs as a developer before she came up with the idea of Hopscotch.
Hopscotch is not the only venture she has been working on. Jocelyn Leavitt was her fellow at Columbia University, and her journey started with Samantha as a co-founder of Hopscotch. She developed her first app Daisy The Dinosaur, in 2012.
Business Idea Behind Hopscotch
Let’s have a sneak peek into the idea behind creating Hopscotch.
According to Hopscotch, the idea behind the app is to make a coding app for kids to make games, stories, art, and more! The literal meaning of Hopscotch is a game of children in which players toss a stone into areas of a figure drawn on the ground. Every player hops through the figure to get back the object.
The main idea of Hopscotch is to indulge the children in interactive learning and develop creativity and problem-solving skills. It is designed for people between 10 and 15, but there is no restriction on the age of who can use it to learn to code. The app is available for iOS(iPad and iPhone).
Net Worth
Let’s look at Hopscotch’s net worth before and after getting featured on Shark Tank.
When Samantha John pitched Hopscotch on Shark Tank, she asked for $400,000 for 4%, which meant $10 million valuations. However, the actual deal was made on $550,000 for 11 percent. Therefore, the net worth of Hopscotch before coming on Shark Tank was $5.5 million.
Business Model Of Hopscotch
Let’s see how Hopscotch works and a little bit about their business model.
As we discussed earlier, the business idea of Hopscotch is to make coding easy and fun for younger minds. The idea has been translated into a coding app that helps kids and teens how to excel in coding and develop games, art, movies, and a lot more.
The coding app offers drag-and-drop functionality. The application enables the users to create games, art, stories, graphic content, etc. The application’s main goal is to enhance coding skills and app development.
Android users and web browser users will have to wait for the compatible versions to excel in the coding and app development.
Hopscotch In Shark Tank
Let’s come to the main point of our article: what happened to Hopscotch after Shark Tank. The CEO and co-founder, Samantha John, participated in the 12th season of Shark Tank. Hopscotch was featured on episode 15 of season 12, and the episode was aired on Feb 26, 2021.
Pitch Of Hopscotch In Shark Tank
When Samantha John visited Shark Tank, she pitched the idea of her business as:
“Educational app for young entrepreneurs to code and run their own online games.”
She added to her story that:
I never thought that coding was for me when I was a kid. I was like, Computers? Those are for boys,”
She also added,
“I took my first computer science class, I was like, ‘Why didn’t I know that programming was so fun and creative and interesting?
Soon after she launched her app, the first week ended with 20,000 downloads on Apple Store.
She also told Sharks that “young entrepreneurs build and run their first business on the internet, all from their mobile device. We use a kid-friendly programming language that I invented to make incredible games. They can turn their creations into real currency by selling those games while learning real coding skills.”
Source: www.cnbc.com
What Happened To Hopscotch After Shark Tank?
The Fortune of Samantha John was shining bright when she visited Shark Tank. Mark Cuban, one of the Sharks, was already taking an interest in her idea as his own children were using the Hopscotch app.
Billionaire Mark Cuban’s offer was taken by Samantha. However, Samantha John asked for $400,000 against 4% of her company. However, after a little argument and discussion, Mark Cuban agreed to invest $550,000 against 11% of Hopscotch.
According to Samantha, her partnership with Mark Cuban has tremendous and amazing outcomes for Hopscotch. After getting on Shark Tank, her company witnessed immense growth in subscriptions and downloads. Besides, the popularity of Hopscotch was also increased after getting on Shark Tank.
To be more specific, the app downloads were increased by 500%.
Quick Facts About Hopscotch
Let’s summarize all the facts and statistics about Hopscotch for your reference:
| Company Name | Hopscotch |
| Founder | Samantha John & Jocelyn Leavitt |
| CEO | Samantha |
| Industry | Coding and Software |
| Target Audience | Kids and Teens |
| Vision Of Business | Educating Kids about coding in an interactive way |
| Net Worth | $5.5 million |
| Visited On Shark Tank | Feb 26, 2021 |
| Season | Season 12 |
| Episode | Episode 15 |
| Ask By Founder | $400,000 for 4% |
| Final Deal | $550,000 for 11% |
Final Words
We have discussed everything about Hopscotch, the business model, and the company’s working featured on Shark Tank. What happened to Hopscotch after Shark Tank was immense popularity, growth of the business, and 500% more conversions.
This update about Hopscotch in 2022, when season 13 of Shark Tank has already aired, will help you know what successful pitches and businesses look like. Samantha John had a vision of empowering kids to become technopreneurs and independent. Shark Tank provided the company with the right resources and platform to grow the business and complete its vision.