These "Shark Tank" founders received $225,000 from Mark Cuban; a year later, their income increased to $1.1 million.

Whitney and Chaz Gates gave credit to Mark Cuban, their primary investor, after their yearly sales more than doubled in less than a year.

The husband and wife team claimed on Friday’s edition of ABC’s “Shark Tank” that their Black-owned wine line, Wondry, had earned $1.1 million in sales in the preceding 11 months.

Compared to their previous visit on the show in November 2022, when they informed investors that Wondry had $250,000 in lifetime sales in just 11 months, including roughly $60,000 in profit, there has been a substantial increase. The couple’s proposal at the time resulted in them receiving $225,000 from Cuban in exchange for 15% of the Dallas-based business.

The results, which were released on Friday, speak for itself less than a year later, they claimed.

The CEO of Wondry, Whitney, stated, “We were just a local Texas business before ‘Shark Tank.'” “But after that, we instantly became a well-known brand across the country.”

The methodology involved an infrastructure investment and a profitable networking connection in addition to that exposure. Here’s how the Gateses claim that Cuban’s $225,000 in sales became $1.1 million.

Infrastructure, networking, and investment
In their 1,400-square-foot facility, Whitney and Chaz were doing more hard labor than they liked, so they first went to “Shark Tank” to find an investor. They claimed they needed money to purchase an automated bottling line.

But two weeks after Cuban made his investment, according to Chaz, he put the co-founders in touch with Southern Glazer’s, a major national distributor of alcohol. This made it easier for Wondry to get shelves in eateries, shops, and airplanes all throughout the nation; hence, an update to its production plant was not enough.

That is, in a way, very different from the company’s modest beginnings. When the pair launched Wondry in August 2021, they invested $100,000 of their own funds, primarily from savings. As they stated last year, their goal was to create a less pompous wine that put an emphasis on premium components.

Conversely, the Gateses appeared to be in a good position to make a breakthrough. According to Wine Business Analytics, Black business owners own just 1% of wine labels in the United States. Whitney, however, worked in marketing for well-known beverage companies like The Coca-Cola Company. Her uncle was a hobbyist winemaker. Chaz worked for a large IT corporation as in-house lawyer.

In the Friday show, Cuban stated that everything helped with his investment.

“Being a Black winemaker makes you unique,” Cuban remarked. They are admired by their community because they are a rarity. Additionally, because of their rapid growth and success, they will inspire business owners all around the nation.”