Polo shirts are versatile pieces of clothing worth adding to your wardrobe. Founded by Brandon Davenport and Marcellus Alexander III, Baobab is resistant to fading and stains. It’s an ingenious product but didn’t get a deal on Shark Tank and Baobab is now worth $2 million.
The Founders
Brandon Davenport is from Los Angeles and graduated from Morgan State University with a degree in finance. Marcellus Alexander III is also an LA native, he has a business management degree from Hampton University.
Brandon started his career as an advertising account executive at CBS network. Marcellus also worked in the entertainment industry as a client service specialist at Hearst Television.
After the two met in New York, they founded the marketing agency Vesta Mobile Solutions. It became a massive success and was acquired by Aegis Mobile in 2010.
Founding Baobab
With the success of their first startup, the entrepreneurs wanted to try new opportunities in another field. They both loved wearing polo shirts but didn’t find any brand that could satisfy their needs.
In 2016, they created the perfect polo shirt with Baobab Clothing, Inc. Using nanotechnology, they developed a shirt that repels stains, wrinkles, odors, fading, and shrinking. Furthermore, it can be worn up to ten times without washing.
In 2017, the founders launched funding campaigns on IndieGoGo and Kickstarter to raise over $57,600. Nine months later they began shipping the product to customers. Before arriving on Shark Tank, the business had made $85,000 in revenue.
Appearing on Shark Tank
Brandon and Marcellus appeared on season 11 of the show, seeking $150,000 in return for a 10% equity in the business. The entrepreneurs valued the company at $1.5 million and predicted $1 million in revenue in the next year.
The Sharks liked the product but the valuation wasn’t realistic. Their chances of closing a deal drifted away once they shared their low sales numbers and the Sharks were immediately turned off.
Robert Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary were the first ones to go out. Daymond John and Lori Greiner expressed their fondness for the brand but still declined to invest. Mark Cuban was interested but the founders didn’t do a good job of answering his questions.
Sales After Shark Tank
3.5 million fans tuned into the show, Brandon revealed in an interview with Jay Jones, that they made a year’s worth of revenue in 12 hours! The company sold out of inventory and customers had to wait a bit longer to receive their order.
Not long after the episode aired, the pandemic happened. It slowed down the production of polo shirts, but the team pivoted to selling facemasks. In 2021, the company raised $103,459 from 292 investors on Republic, a crowdfunding platform.
Baobab is still going strong as they made $700,000 in 2020 and later hit their predicted sales forecast made on the show. Their products can be bought through Amazon and their e-commerce website, BaobabClothing.com. Facebook ads are a big part of their marketing strategy to retarget customers. Currently, 35% of customers make repeat orders and 87% purchase multiple shirts.
The polo shirt brand has a rating of 2.6 stars on Trustpilot based on only 15 customers. Despite these reviews, Baobab manages to pull in decent sales, earning around $1 million in annual revenue. Today, Brandon is Head of Equitable Commerce at Shopify and Marcellus works at Colgate-Palmolive.
