Cupbop got a deal on Shark Tank, at least on air. Junghun “Jung” Song and Dok Kwon, who run the Utah-born chain that sells Korean barbecue bowls in a cup, pitched in May 2022, asked for $1 million for 3%, drew offers from all five Sharks and shook hands with Mark Cuban at $1 million for 5%. Whether that money ever changed hands is not on the public record: we found no confirmation from either side, and Cupbop is not among the 173 companies on Cuban’s own portfolio site as of October 2026. What is documented is that the company kept growing without needing the answer. It is still in business, still privately held, and still opening restaurants, including its first in Oregon in 2026.
The Cupbop Shark Tank deal at a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Aired | May 2022 (Season 13) |
| Pitched by | Jung Song and Dok Kwon |
| Ask | $1,000,000 for 3% (about a $33.3 million valuation) |
| Revenue claimed on air | $18.7 million over the prior 12 months |
| Offers | All five Sharks, from a $1M loan to $5M for 28% |
| Deal | $1,000,000 for 5% from Mark Cuban (a $20 million valuation) |
| Did it close? | Not publicly documented |
| Status, Oct. 2026 | Active and expanding |
The arithmetic: $1 million for 3% is about $33.3 million; $1 million for 5% is $20 million. Our post-money valuation calculator does the same sum for any ask. On air, Robert Herjavec said, “I think the business is worth about $18 million today,” according to KSL’s account, so Cuban’s number sat close to the Sharks’ own estimate rather than the founders’.
A food truck bought with $13,000 of savings
Cupbop started in 2013 as one food truck in Salt Lake City. Wikipedia’s history, citing Korean press, says Song spent his savings of 15 million won, about $13,000, on a 20-year-old truck and began selling Noryangjin-style Korean food in cups with two friends. Deseret News places the first truck at the Gallivan Center downtown.
Kwon arrived later. CNBC reported that he was a Korean immigrant and hedge fund investor who joined in 2020 to help the company expand, and that his parents had sent him and his brother to live with a family in Utah as children. Before that year, the founders told the Sharks, Cupbop was doing less than $10 million a year.
The unit economics were the core of the pitch. According to KSL, Kwon told the Sharks a bowl cost $1.80 to $2.50 to make and sold for $8 to $10, which he described as a 75% gross margin. “Our same store sales, we were up 9% during COVID,” he said.
Five offers in the Tank
The Cupbop Shark Tank pitch is one of the few in which every Shark made an offer. CNBC, KSL and Deseret News all record the same five:
| Shark | Offer |
|---|---|
| Kevin O’Leary | $1M loan at 10% interest over three years, plus 3% equity |
| Barbara Corcoran | $1M for 30% |
| Robert Herjavec | $5M for 28% |
| Lori Greiner (joined by Corcoran) | $1M loan at 8% interest, plus 5% equity |
| Mark Cuban | $1M for 7% |
“You’ve got the operations down, right? But you need someone to propel you in terms of marketing and PR,” Cuban told them, per KSL. Kwon countered at 4.5%, and the two settled at 5%. The reports differ on the structure: CNBC describes $1 million for 5% equity, while Deseret News wrote that the parties “ultimately settled on a $1 million loan with a 5% stake in the company.” The broadcast deal is not enough to tell which is right.
Did the Cupbop deal with Mark Cuban close?
We could not find evidence that it did, and we could not find evidence that it didn’t. Two things are checkable. First, Cuban’s portfolio site, markcubancompanies.com, lists 173 companies, including Dude Products and Cup Board Pro, and Cupbop is not one of them as of October 28, 2026. Second, when Tasting Table interviewed Kwon in August 2023, it described the founders as having agreed to a deal with Cuban, at 5.5% in its telling, but did not say the money had arrived, and Kwon’s comment on the Sharks was general: “At the end of the day, these guys are investors.”
A deal missing from that site is not proof it collapsed, because portfolio pages are not complete. But a deal that both sides had closed would usually show up somewhere, in the site, a press release or a later interview, and for Cupbop none of those exists. The honest answer is that it is unconfirmed.
What happened to Cupbop after Shark Tank
The chain kept expanding at home and abroad. At the time of the episode, CNBC counted 36 locations across six U.S. states and more than 100 in Indonesia, where the brand operates through a separate local business. By August 2023, Tasting Table reported, the U.S. count had passed 50 and the company was moving into Texas. Wikipedia, citing a 2025 report, puts it at about 60 U.S. stores across seven states, plus more than 180 to 220 in Indonesia depending on the source.
The model has also changed. In 2023 Kwon told Tasting Table that franchising was not on the immediate horizon. By 2026 Cupbop was opening in markets run by local operators. KOBI-TV reported in August 2026 that the chain’s first Oregon restaurant was coming to McAndrews Marketplace in Medford. In January 2026, a company press release reported by Tbreak announced a standalone flagship in Dubai’s JBR district, alongside existing outlets at Ibn Battuta Mall and Deira City Centre.
How big is Cupbop?
The only revenue figure with a clear date and source is the one the founders gave on the show: $18.7 million over 12 months, reported by CNBC and Deseret News in May 2022. Wikipedia cites $64 million, but treats it as annual 2024 revenue in one place and as cumulative sales since founding in another, and its sources include an aggregator. We do not repeat it as a fact. Store counts vary by date and by whether Indonesia is included, so treat any single “total locations” number with care.
Is Cupbop still in business?
Yes. Cupbop is still operating in October 2026, privately held by its founders and partners, with new U.S. and international openings this year. The size of any stake held by Mark Cuban is not public, and neither is whether he holds one. Cupbop is a restaurant chain, so there is no product to link to.
What founders can take from it
First, the margin story is what drew five offers. A bowl that costs about $2 and sells for about $9 is a business the Sharks could understand in one sentence. Second, a deal on television is a handshake, not a wire transfer. Cupbop is the clearest kind of example: a company that won the episode and whose investor relationship afterward is undocumented. If you are reporting on a Shark Tank company, or valuing one, don’t assume the on-air terms. Third, the second founder can matter as much as the first. Song built the product; Kwon, who joined seven years later, brought the investor vocabulary that the pitch was built on. For a contrast, see how Cousins Maine Lobster, another food-truck company, turned its Shark deal into a franchise system.
