There are so many things that keep people busy in these modern times that taking a break is often forgotten. This fact inspired Yunha Kim to develop Simple Habit, an app to relieve stress with meditation. She pitched this idea to Shark Tank but unfortunately couldn’t reach a deal. As of 2022, Simple Habit is worth $12 million.
About the Founder
Yunha Kim is from San Francisco, California. She is a graduate of Duke University who interned at the United Nations and McKinsey & Company. She started her professional career as an investment banking analyst.
Her first business pursuit was in 2013 when she co-founded the tech company Locket, which reinvented smartphone lock screens. She served as the firm’s CEO for more than two years.
While working, she also studied to get an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. The workload had pushed her to find a way to de-stress after a long day.
Establishing Simple Habit
In 2015, Yunha dropped out of grad school and left Locket to start her second business, a meditation app for busy individuals. She sought out help from a Harvard psychologist.
With this, her program was ready in 2016. Its goal is to improve people’s lives by promoting restful sleep and lowering anxiety and stress. It is primarily aimed at young professionals who are overworked and in need of a soothing presence.
The app’s standard version is free, but to unlock enhanced features, users must pay $49 to $99 annually. On the night of its launch, Kim’s app had 75,000 users sign up. She also raised $2.8 million.
Shark Tank Appearance
In 2017, Yunha Kim entered the tank with an offer of $600,000 for 5% of her relaxation app. As she begins her pitch, she invites the sharks to take a moment of meditation. However, she didn’t expect what was coming next.
At this time, Simple Habit had 500,000 users, with 5,000 of them subscribed to a subscription service. When she mentioned that she only used $500,000 of the $2.8 million capital investment she received, things got heated.
The Sharks were baffled as to why she was asking for more money. Mark Cuban even called her a gold digger, and others said she was only there to advertise. Robert Herjavec and Richard Branson made a joint offer of $600,000 for 20%, but Yunha refused.
After Shark Tank
On the day she pitched her business on Shark Tank, Yunha Kim’s app received 75,000 downloads. By the end of the year, the numbers reached up to 1 million. Currently, the app has 2.7 million users, with 30,000 new users signing up every week.
This helped the creator reach out to new investors. She raised over $12.8 million from big-time investors like New Enterprise Associates, Y Combinator, and Foundation Capital. Several Silicon Valley CEOs also worked with her.
Simple Habit is the number one rated meditation app on the App Store, and Yunha doesn’t plan to stop there. Despite not having the support from the Shark Tank investors, she boosted her company’s value to $12 million.
