'Shark Tank' recap: Entrepreneurs lock up a sweet deal for child car-seat unlocking device

On Wednesday’s “Shark Tank,” a mother and daughter wowed the sharks with their product to make car seats more grandparent friendly.

The creators of UnbuckleMe, Barbara Heilman and her daughter, Becca Davison, were asking for $100,000 for 10% of their company. UnbuckleMe is a handheld device that makes unbuckling a car seat a hassle-free affair that its inventors say even a 5-year-old can use.

The Houston natives came up with the idea when Heilman decided to help take care of her granddaughter, Eve. Heilman has arthritis, and struggled to undo the car-seat buckle, which requires 9 pounds of pressure. Their device cuts that by half.

“A small product that’s making a big difference for families” is how Davison described UnbuckleMe, as her mother and young daughter demonstrated the device.

“That’s a night-and-day difference,” shark Lori Greiner agreed, testing the product, but fellow shark Kevin O’Leary needed convincing. He was concerned about the market for the product.

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“What I’m trying to get is size of market because, A) you have to have a child that is in a car seat, B) you have to have issues with 9 pounds of pressure on a red button. So smaller market, smaller market, smaller market,” O’Leary said.

While around half of their sales came from grandparents, Davison explained, 30% to 40% were bought by younger families who were using them for carpools and the dreaded school drop-off line. Rather than get out of the car, parents would hand the device to their small children to unbuckle themselves.

Davison, who is a child-passenger safety technician, said she hopes the UnbuckleMe stops frustrated parents from moving their children into booster seats too soon. If O’Leary needed more convincing on their valuation, the company’s sales certainly helped. In the past 22 months of business, they had sold more than 35,000 units and made $400,000 in sales. They sold the product on their website and Amazon for $14.99, and it cost $1.80 to make.

“You guys are the American dream team,” shark Mark Cuban said. “You’re exactly why people watch this show, because they want to have that idea. They want to come on and be on that carpet with 22 months of sales.”

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The two also impressed O’Leary, who, in a rare move for Mr. Wonderful, admitted he was wrong: “I thought it was going to be frivolous and pointless, but I am wrong. You have convinced me of that.”

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to get the best deal possible. O’Leary offered the pair $100,000 for a 7% stake in the company, but he also wanted a $1 royalty for every unit sold in perpetuity. And guest shark Anne Wojcicki was after a royalty deal of her own.

“I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the both of you,” she said. “My son has also been watching the show all the time and he loves royalty deals, so if I don’t come away with a royalty deal, I’m really going to be in trouble.”

Davison was reluctant to commit to a royalty deal because she was afraid the profit margin for UnbuckleMe would shorten as they scaled the business. O’Leary tried to negotiate the deal by partnering with Wojcicki: $100,000 for 7% and a 50 cent royalty in perpetuity for each of them.

“That doesn’t solve the problem of the royalty,” Cuban said.

Sensing the inventors' continued reluctance, O’Leary agreed to drop the royalty to 50 cents in perpetuity after their $100,000 was repaid. Wojcicki changed the offer once again after Davison declined: $100,000 for 10% equity with 50 cents royalty until the sharks were paid $250,000.

Cuban and Greiner saved Davison and her mother from responding. They had an offer of their own: $100,000 for 20% of the company. Not wanting to be left out, shark Daymond John offered the $100,000 for 15%.

“This is amazing. We never anticipated this,” Davison said. When she failed to talk Cuban and Greiner down to 15%, she took their offer of 20%.

After leaving the tank, Davison said she and her motherwere excited by the partnership. “We think they understand our product, respect us as entrepreneurs and everything we’ve accomplished so far.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Shark Tank': Entrepreneurs unlock a deal for child car-seat device