The Woobles got a deal on Shark Tank, and then didn’t take it. Justine Tiu and Adrian Zhang, a married couple who left Google and Deutsche Bank and built a business selling beginner crochet kits with video lessons, pitched in Season 14 in 2022. They asked for $250,000 for 5% and set off a bidding war among all five Sharks, which ended with Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner offering $450,000 for 6%. That valued the company above the founders’ own ask, which almost never happens on the show. The deal did not close after the episode: Wikipedia reports that the Cuban deal did not go through, and Shark Tank Blog cites Cuban telling a Charlotte business publication that he and Greiner wanted to close but the founders backed out. The Woobles is still in business in October 2026, selling kits that include licensed Disney, Sanrio and Peanuts designs.
The Woobles Shark Tank deal at a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Episode | Season 14, Episode 2 (2022) |
| Pitched by | Justine Tiu and Adrian Zhang |
| Ask | $250,000 for 5% (a $5 million valuation) |
| Claimed on air | $5.3 million in sales since launch; $3.1 million so far that year; 86% gross margin, per Shark Tank Blog |
| Offers | All five Sharks, in several rounds |
| Deal on air | $450,000 for 6% from Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner (a $7.5 million valuation) |
| Did it close? | No |
| Status, Oct. 2026 | Active |
$450,000 for 6% values The Woobles at $7.5 million, 50% more than the $5 million the founders asked for. Our post-money valuation calculator shows both sums. In our analysis of Shark Tank deals by the numbers, deals priced above the ask are the rare exception.
Crochet kits as an education company
Wikipedia’s account, drawn from Business Insider, Fortune and Inc., says Tiu, who had led user experience for Google Classroom, and Zhang, who had worked at Deutsche Bank, left their jobs in 2018, tried several ventures that didn’t work, and launched a crochet pattern store on Etsy in 2020 that grew during the pandemic. The kits are built for people who have never crocheted: each comes pre-started, with stitch markers, a custom beginner yarn designed not to fray, and video tutorials broken into short steps. A 2021 Fortune story framed it as a crochet kit that is really an edtech startup. Wirecutter, reviewing kits in 2024, noted that the $30 starter kit is “likely to seem high for the materials included” for experienced crocheters, which is another way of saying the price is for the teaching.
What happened in the Tank
The numbers were unusually strong for a pitch at this stage. According to Shark Tank Blog’s account of the episode, the founders reported $5.3 million in total sales since launching with $200 in 2020, $3.1 million year to date with $7 million projected for the year, an 86% gross margin and a 32% net margin, ad spend of 20% of revenue, a $16 customer acquisition cost and a $57 average order.
Every Shark made an offer, in several rounds. Kevin O’Leary offered $250,000 for 10%. Barbara Corcoran and Lori Greiner bid up from there, and the final offers paired Sharks together. The founders accepted $450,000 for 6% from Cuban and Greiner.
Why the deal didn’t close
Wikipedia states that the deal with Cuban did not close after the show. Shark Tank Blog cites a November 29, 2022 report in CharlotteInno, a Business Journals publication, in which Cuban said he and Greiner wanted to close and the founders decided against it. We could not open that article ourselves, so we report Cuban’s account as relayed. The founders’ own reasons have not been published in a source we could verify. A week after the episode, the company’s press release said the investment would go toward its learning platform, hiring and licensing, per Shark Tank Blog.
A company growing this fast, with high margins and little need for outside cash, is exactly the kind that can afford to walk away after the episode. The value of Shark Tank to The Woobles was the audience, and the episode delivered that whether or not the money arrived.
What happened to The Woobles after Shark Tank
Shark Tank Blog reports, citing the same CharlotteInno story, that the company finished 2022 with $7 million in revenue, in line with the projection on air. Wikipedia notes that it has since released limited-edition collaborations with Sanrio, Minecraft and Peanuts. In October 2026 its store was selling Halloween kits, a holiday “collector’s box” and a Disney Winnie the Pooh collaboration, and showing “4.7 Stars, 17k+ Reviews.” It is privately held by its founders and does not mention Shark Tank on its homepage. We could not verify an official Amazon listing, so there is no Amazon link here.
What founders can take from it
First, a bidding war is a signal about your business, not just a better price. Five Sharks competing pushed the valuation 50% above the ask. Second, you can say yes on air and no afterward. The handshake is not binding, and a profitable company with its own growth has leverage that a struggling one does not. Third, if your margins are high and your acquisition costs are low, outside money may simply not be worth the equity. For another founder who chose independence after accepting on air, see Spikeball; for a deal that also priced a company above its ask, and ended badly, see Breathometer.
