Shark Tanks ZipStrings still sell for $25 and theyre working on the next version Sat 10 D
Entering the Shark Tank on December 9 in Men In Black style were the inventors of a new toy called ZipString.
Austin Hillam and Stephen Fazio entered Shark Tank recalling iconic children’s toys including the yo-yo, the etch a sketch, and the Rubix cube.
They then introduced ZipString as “the toy of the future,” the string flies at 35 mph and the two men displayed all kinds of tricks that can be carried out with the toy, including ‘the swirl’, ‘the corkscrew’ and ‘the pop’.
Who are the inventors of ZipString?
Looking for a $100,000 investment for 10 per cent of their company was Austin Hillam and Steven Fazio.
The two appeared on Shark Tank season 14 episode 9 and said that
Stephen explained that he’s “super passionate about electronics.”
His idea for the toy came from a physics teacher doing a demonstration with a benchtop string launcher.
He said: “He had this device that would launch a string in a loop.”
Stephen took the benchtop version and “compacted it,” making it handheld.
His idea for ZipString was developed further with the help of Austin. After they put the toy on social media, it went viral.
ZipString – the ‘toy of the future’
Explaining how ZipString works, Austin, 22, and Stephen, 22, said: “Anything the users does, the ZipString follows.”
It can fly at 35 mph but is safe to touch.
Per the ZipString website: “It carefully balances several forces of gravity, lift, tension, and drag to fly the string in the air.”
The toy mesmerized people back in 2021 in a social media clip that went viral and gained 2m views. The TikTok video now has over 5m views.
Where is ZipString since Shark Tank?
When Austin and Stephen appeared on Shark Tank, they’d had their business running for just over a year.
They had sold over 10,000 toys and were charging $25 per item.
Robert Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary offered the ZipString creators $100,000 for a 20 per cent stake in their company.
Now, Austin can be found on Instagram at @austinhillam. Stephen has 37k followers at @stephengfazio.
ZipString toys are still selling for $24.99 via the website and they come in a variety of different colors.
They write on their ‘About Us’ page: “Today, the team is still based out of the Johns Creek, Georgia home. Working hard in the lab they are creating the next versions of ZipString.”
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