iCapsulate, which closed the biggest Shark Tank deal, has gone bankrupt due to false claims of their product being biodegradable. Learn more about this story and its impact.
Shark Tank is full of sassy deals but none comes close to this one. A whopping AU$ 2.5 million deal was closed on Shark Tank Australia, and it was the biggest deal ever in Australian Shark Tank’s history.
The Sydney-based biodegradable coffee capsules were supposed to be “biodegradable” and environment-friendly, but that’s not what caught everyone’s attention. What’s promising about the business was its success in Australia and Newzealand.
In this article, we will take a closer look at how a successful coffee pod manufacturer, iCapsulate, collapsed his business in a matter of months.
Introduction
iCapsulate is a biodegradable coffee pod manufacturer that once ruled the coffee markets of New Zealand and Australia. Based in Sydney, iCapsulate was a successful business even before it was pitched on Shark Tank Australia.
In short, iCapsulate was the biggest deal ever on Shark Tank Australia and Shark Andrew Banks closed the deal with $2.5 million for 22.5% of the company. At the time of the deal, the numbers were promising and the company was doing fine in the region but what happened afterward?
Why Did iCapsulate Collapse Despite $2.5 Million Investment
According to the founder Kane Bodiam, iCapsulate was generating $4 million of annual revenue and manufacturing 35 million coffee pods per annum, which was supposed to be at 55 million by the end of the year.
The numbers were supposed to grow in the future, as projected, but there was one string attached that would destroy the sales as well as Andrew Banks’ AU$2.5 million deal.
1. Andrew Banks Withdrew from the Deal Amid False Claims of iCapsulate
Shark Andrew Banks and CEO Kane Bodiam closed the deal for a 22.5% stake in iCapsulate and agreed upon 2.5 million Australian dollars. However, the deal didn’t go through as Kane Bodiam’s claims that iCapsulate’s capsules were 100% biodegradable were FALSE.
Kane Bodiam, on the other hand, says that the company is not insolvent but going through administration. “It is not as a result of insolvency but the result of a shareholder and director dispute. The company does not appear to be insolvent, it’s trading as per usual”, says Kane Bodiam of iCapsulate.
According to Bodiam, even though the deal was closed at Shark Tank with Andrew Banks, eight months passed and the owner didn’t hear anything from Andrew Banks.
It is said that the deal didn’t go through because a number of competitors were calling out iCapsulate of false statements on the show.
2. Kane Bodiam’s False Claims of AU and NZ Contacts
Another reason why iCapsulate failed miserably is that the founder Kane Bodiam said big things about the company and its exclusive connections with big coffee companies in Australia and New Zealand. But the reality is often disappointing; upon investigating, none of the big coffee companies in the said countries seemed to have known iCapsulate at all.
Big coffee companies are “not aware of a single major retail store in Australia from which a customer can purchase coffee capsules packed by iCapsulate,” stated iCapsulate’s top competitors.
3. iCapsulate top Competitor on Kane Bodium’s Shark Tank Pitch
“We were concerned by the number of vague statements made during Kane’s pitch, which we believe do not reflect the true state of our industry. Most particularly, in relation to existing contracts in the marketplace…
We would appreciate the opportunity to clarify the market status quo in relation to contracts with major brands, which we believe were not represented accurately in the show,” said Toby Strong, director at Podpac.
Andrew Banks Officially Comes Forward and Backs out from iCapsulate
Even though Andrew Banks was ghosting Kane Bodium for the first eight months, he officially comes to light and ends the deal amid false claims of iCapsulate. And for that matter, most of the entrepreneurs backed Banks on his statement.
“It didn’t go because on the show you’ll remember they said, ‘we are the exclusive producers of biodegradable coffee pods and the CSIRO will validate that soon’,” said Andrew Banks after he withdraws from the deal.
“And guess what? They didn’t, and they aren’t. So for 2.5 million bucks, I wasn’t going to risk that. It was because their revenues were getting close to $15 million that year and $21 million the next, they had a reasonable business. They still, they just don’t have my money” Banks added.
Kane Bodiam Disputed Andrew Banks Statement
As soon as Kane knew about Andrew Banks’s statement about the company, Kane Bodiam denied everything that Banks had to say about iCapsulate. Kane Bodiam disputed the pods not being biodegradable and said that all the certificates were there to prove his claims.
What’s even more surprising is that Kane said that it wasn’t Andrew Banks that backed out, but the company’s internal decision to not let him on board. “We gave them some info at the beginning, but when we received all the certification and everything we just never continued,” said Kane to an Australian news channel.
“They stopped communicating so we stopped communicating. It was just moving slowly and we were moving quite quickly. We made a decision probably two or three months after we met Andrew that we were just going to go it alone,” he added.
What is iCapsulate Doing in 2023?
The bottom line is that iCapsulate collapsed into administration in 2018, but the worse was yet to come. Even after the administration process, founder Kane Bodiam was positive that the operations were running smoothly and the company would go about its business as usual, but now, we fail to find any trace of its business.
For instance, the domain icapsulate.coffee is no longer operational. It is as if the company has vanished from everywhere.
What’s left is its Instagram account which has also been made private due to unknown reasons.
But still, as long as the Shark Tank episode featuring the biggest deal in Australian Shark Tank history is running, people will know about this wonderful deal and will be curious about how the company is doing, which brings us to the next point of curiosity:
iCapsulate Net Worth in 2023
At the time of the Shark Tank Australia episode, iCapsulate was worth over $11 million as Andrew Banks bought 22.5% of the company for AU$ 2.5 million. However, the company collapsed after the deal and Andrew Banks withdrew after a year of ghosting, leaving the company at a crossroads.
The company then collapsed into administration and in 2023, the company is nowhere to be found. Even on Amazon, if we search for the product, no listing is found, raising questions about the company’s whereabouts.
So, since the company is nowhere to be found, iCapsulate is worth $0 as the company has collapsed into administration after Andrew Banks backed out from the deal.
Final Words
iCapsulate was a company that made biodegradable coffee pods. They appeared on Shark Tank and got a deal for $2.5 million, which was the biggest deal ever on the show. However, it was discovered that iCapsulate’s claims about their product being 100% biodegradable were false. Also, they had said they had contracts with big coffee companies in Australia and New Zealand, but it turned out they didn’t.
The deal with Shark Andrew Banks fell apart because of these issues, and the company eventually went bankrupt. Despite the founder’s denials, there was evidence that iCapsulate’s coffee pods were not actually biodegradable. As a result of these false claims and misleading statements, iCapsulate’s business failed and went bankrupt, despite generating millions in annual revenue.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about iCapsulate
What is iCapsulate worth?
At the time of the Shark Tank Australia valuation in 2016, iCapsulate was worth just over AU$ 11 million, but the company collapsed to administration, and now is nowhere to be found, so, iCapsulate is worth $0 in 2023.
Did iCapsulate get a deal?
iCapsulate did get a deal at Shark Tank, as a matter of fact, the biggest deal ever in the history of Shark Tank Australia. Shark Andrew Banks bought 22.5% of the company for AU$ 2.5 million. (but later withdrew due to the founder’s false claims)
Who is the CEO of iCapsulate?
iCapsulate was run by Kane Bodiam. He was the one to bag $2.5 million from Andrew Banks, making it the biggest Shark Tank Australia deal.
Is iCapsulate Still in Business?
No, the company collapsed into administration after Andrew Banks backed out from the deal. The company, iCapsulate, is now out of business and its products are nowhere to be found.
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