African-Inspired Clean Beauty Brand 54 Thrones Scores A Deal On “Shark Tank”

After her appearance on “Shark Tank” last Friday, 54 Thrones founder Christina Funke Tegbe’s breezy, air-tight pitch got a shoutout from long-term “Shark” investor and businesswoman Barbara Corcoran on Twitter. “Entrepreneurs, take note!” she wrote. Funke Tegbe’s pitch—and her unwillingness to take just any deal—worked out in her favor.

Funke Tegbe was pursuing $250,000 for a 10% stake in her African-inspired clean beauty brand. She ended up getting $250,000 for “Shark Tank” guest Nirav Tolia, co-founder of Nextdoor, and perennial “Shark” or investor Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, receiving a combined 17.5% stake, which she negotiated down from 20%. “Sharks” Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner and Robert Herjavec passed on 54 Thrones.

Funke Tegbe has been a “Shark Tank” viewer for years and applied to appear on the program late last year. Taped earlier this year, in her appearance, Funke Tegbe shared that 54 Thrones’ Beauty Butters were featured in Oprah’s Favorite Things, and launched at Nordstrom, Goop and Sephora’s website. Currently, a quarter of 54 Thrones’ sales are from its website. Retail drives the rest. Bootstrapped before “Shark Tank,” the brand is set to hit $1 million in revenues this year.

“I felt like we had a really good track record and that my business was at the point where going on ‘Shark Tank’ and landing a deal could help take us to the next level,” Funke Tegbe tells Beauty Independent. 54 Thrones was a member of Sephora program Accelerate’s 2021 cohort. Funke Tegbe says that experience was beneficial for her pursuit of funding. She says, “We were able to pitch to investors, and they were able to introduce us to many other investors and angels.”

In Funke Tegbe’s “Shark Tank” pitch, she honed in on her brand’s signature ingredient, shea butter sourced from cooperatives across Africa. One of her partners mailed over a shea nut for her to show on air, and Funke Tegbe made a call to that partner promptly following the show. “They’re super excited that their craft is growing and being shared with the world in a respectable way,” she says. Funke Tegbe emphasized 54 Thrones promotes “trade, not aid” as she was negotiating on “Shark Tank.” Her commitment to that approach contributed to her sticking to her guns on the amount of equity she was willing to give up.

“You don’t have to win over everyone, all it takes is one.”

On the pitch process, Funke Tegbe says, “Especially when you have a brand that might be different than the status quo or what’s out there, I think it’s really important to be authentically unapologetically you and own it. Don’t try to blend in, stand out and really stand in yourself and in your brand standards and what it represents. Don’t minimize yourself or your mission or your values. That’s what I did when I was on the show…A lot of times investors are, of course, looking at your product or your service, but they’re looking to invest in you as a founder.”

Confident in her skills and her offering, Funke Tegbe wasn’t phased when Cuban, Greiner and Herjavec passed on 54 Thrones. “I respect someone that can voice why they’re going to have to take a seat, but I think that it speaks even more to the reason why they need founders that look like me, that have products like mine, to speak to the people that aren’t able to have their voice out there because, although they might not have understood it, there are tens of thousands of other people who see our product and are like, yes, give me that butter,” she says. “So, it resonates with who it resonates with. You don’t have to win over everyone, all it takes is one.”

The funding 54 Thrones secured on “Shark Tank” will go toward building its team, presently consisting of six people. Funke Tegbe plans to hire for her brand’s supply chain, operations and marketing departments. The show’s spotlight generated orders and social media engagement, and yielded about 5,000 new social media followers. Funke Tegbe went live on her brand’s Instagram page Friday night for three hours to answer questions, talk about products and watch the show with her nearly 26,000 followers. “We got a deal!” she exalted after the episode aired.

Another raise could potentially be in the future for 54 Thrones, but, for now, Funke Tegbe is trying her best to bask in her “Shark Tank” accomplishment. “A lot of times, as entrepreneurs, we get so wrapped up in what’s next, and you forget to really breathe in the moment and be present and be excited and happy and focus on those things,” she says. “So, that’s what I’m doing.”