Whatever Happened To Banana Phone After Shark Tank?

Banana Phone co-founders Brian Brunsing and Max Brown enter "Shark Tank" seeking a $250,000 investment for 10% of their company. The sharks get a chuckle out of the nifty device, and then gasp when they hear more about the business. Within its six years of operation, Banana Phone has brought in over $1.6 million in sales. The previous year brought them $540,000 with net profits of $123,000. It costs $6 to make and sells for $39.99. They may not be the biggest numbers ever to enter the tank, but the investors are nevertheless surprised by how much the business has made from what is essentially a gag gift. 

Brunsing explains that he was inspired after pretending to use a banana as a phone one day while at work. After looking it up on social media, he found thousands of others who made a similar joke, including longtime "Shark Tank" investor Barbara Corcoran. From there, the Banana Phone was born. However, they have not pursued a patent given how easy it is to copy their item, instead choosing to trademark the brand. 

Brunsing and Brown hope to find an investor who can be a strategic partner and help them get into brick-and-mortar locations. Unfortunately, though, none of the sharks are biting. While they get a kick out of the product and are impressed with the sales figures, each of the sharks declines to invest, with most citing the fact that they don't think the novelty item will be scalable.