What if you could give your kids a way to stay in touch, without giving them access to smartphones? That’s the idea behind Toymail, the company that turns adorable stuffed animals into communication devices.
In season 8, episode 17 a lady came up with an extremely interesting and playable idea, an idea which improves the Parents – Children bonding, named Toymail.
Toymail is a kind of gadget that allows sending and receiving of voice messages between its users. A mailbox is placed into toys and the child has to just press the button behind the toy and send it to the receiver. Receiver in return can reply to that message through their applications from their phone. Toymail explained its whole procedure by showing how it works.
Gauri Nanda and a cute little girl performed the activity of sending and receiving the voice mail, which at last impressed the two Sharks of the tank and made a deal with Lori Greiner and Chris Sacca for $600k in return for 5% shares. Lori and Chris decided to pay half-half the amount and sharing of the equity will also be equal among them.
Toymail at a glance:
| EPISODE NO | Season 8 Episode 17 |
| BUSINESS IDEA | A stuffed Animal device that allows sending and receiving of voice messages between its users |
| FOUNDER | Gauri Nanda |
| ASKED FOR | $250,000 For 2.5% |
| ACCEPTED OFFER | $600,000 For 5% |
| SHARK | Lori Greiner And Chris Sacca |
| BUSINESS STATUS | Out Of Business |
Index:
Founder Story and details:
Gauri’s goal for Toymail was to change the way children interact with toys. Her goal was to make children get messages through the toys she made without looking at screens. Even though her parents are entrepreneurs, she never imagined herself in the same space. Her parents once bought a faulty newspaper and redeveloped it into a successful, profitable business for them after selling it in 2007.
When Gauri was in college, she invented Clocky, an alarm that beeps and runs around. It became the springboard of her career. She hoped to be able to recreate the revival with Toymail, but it required more money than they had raised with her partner, Audrey Hill.
They aimed to explore the relatively untapped market of smart toys for children. In addition, Gauri and Audrey had the desire to change the way adults communicate with children, helping them to infuse joy into them without the distraction of screens.
Did Toymail get a deal on Shark Tank?
Gauri joined to seek $250,000 for 2.5% of her business. Both Robert and Daymond recoil during the appraisal. She reveal her product and said it helps families stay together. When she demonstrated the functions, Chris Sacca looked very impressive as the gadgets also respond to physical play – the toy will laugh when you shake it.
She showed some samples to the investors and the tank started questioning. Gauri revealed that Verizon and Amazon are also investors in her start-up. Robert said to Gauri that he won’t get out of bed until 2.5% was out of the picture and was out.
Gauri said to Mark she could even reach $100 million in a few years. Kevin repeated Robert’s story at a 2.5% rate and walked out. Gauri gets an offer from Chris of $400,000 for 5%. Mark put his offer on the table of $500,000 for 5%.
Lori came into the picture and suggested that if Mark wanted a partnership to which, Chris said that he wanted to work with Lori Greiner and offered a price of $600,000 for 5% in partnership investing and sharing equally. Gauri happily accepted the offer and made a deal.
What happened to Toymail after Shark Tank?
Toymail Cloud for Talkies offers a number of apps such as Remindie, an audio calendar for kids, Sleepie which provides soothing sounds and music at bedtime, and Voiceie, a voice filtering program. The next generation of toys with Amazon Echo’s built-in voice software has been introduced. New technologies allow kids to chat while blocking the ability to take excessive selfies or watch YouTube.
Toymail was started in 2013 by Gauri Nanda. They started the business with a Kickstarter campaign that raised $83,341. They used the funds for their first round of production. The entrepreneur also claimed that she had developed a unique alarm clock while she was at MIT and had net sales worth $10 million.
Gauri claimed that there was an expense of $20 per product but they were trying hard to bring it down to $10. After Toymail was introduced to Shark Tank, its valuation rose to $12 million. They also have a $2.99 per month subscription service so that they can download content technologies. In November 2018 the company filed for bankruptcy and went bankrupt.
Toymail revenue:
It comes in three sizes.
- Talkies are the largest toys with more features, which cost $59.
- Teensies are a mini version which not includes the message-sending feature – they just record a child’s voice and they cost $10.
- Weensies are the cutest in appearance, which make silly sounds and fit on a key chain and they’re for $15.
- The customer showed positive reviews and also said that not only does the product work and look good, but it also makes children happy too. In November 2018, the company declared bankruptcy and they were shut down.
Toymail net worth:
At the time of the shark tank appearance, Toymail was valued at around $12 million. Toymail went out of business in 2018.
Investors details and Funding:
The deal was struck by two of the sharks in partnership. First, Christopher Sacca, an American venture investor, company advisor, entrepreneur, and lawyer, and Lori Greiner, an American television personality, inventor, and entrepreneur. They offered a deal of $600,000 for 5%, with complete acceptance from the entrepreneur, Gauri.
Competitors Analysis:
Competition helps to improve ourselves. Similarly, in the market, there are many other products giving tough competition to Toymail, which may cause an effect on Toymail’s valuation and Revenue.
A few competitors of Toymail are:-
- 1. Tinitell
- 2. Toyji
- 3. Kids in Touch
- 4. Monster Messenger
When did Toymail go out of business?
Even though a deal was by Chris and Lori on Shark Tank, the offer bore no fruit. Some of Toymail’s products can still be bought on Amazon. In November 2018, the company declared bankruptcy and they were shut down.
Interesting facts:
- We can directly send messages through toys.
- We can switch the voice box from one toy to another.
- It also receives replies from other users.
- Toys also have a physical voice.
- Increases parent-children bonding.
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What is Toymail?
Toymail is a kind of gadget that allows sending and receiving of voice messages between its users. A mailbox is placed into toys and the child has to just press the button behind the toy and send it to the receiver.
Who founded Toymail?
Gauri’s goal for Toymail was to change the way children interact with toys. Her goal was to make children get messages through the toys she made without looking at screens.