What Happened To Circadian Optics Light Therapy From Shark Tank Season 11?

The second episode of Season 11 of "Shark Tank" premiered on ABC on October 6, 2019, with approximately 3.8 million viewers watching the show live or on their DVR before the night was over. The episode opened with a pitch from Amber Leong for her company, Circadian Optics, which makes lamps that mimic daylight to help people regulate their circadian rhythms while working inside all day, theoretically improving their sleep cycles.

On "Shark Tank," Leong delivered what the Sharks lauded as one of the greatest pitches in the history of the show, relating her immigrant story growing up in Malaysia in a home without indoor plumbing before ending up in Minnesota and noticing how the relative lack of sun was impacting her health. Already armed with an impressive sales record to back up her inspiring story, having noticed a gap in the market for light therapy lamps that were aesthetically pleasing, she secured a two-shark deal in one of the most memorable segments in "Shark Tank" history. Or did she?

By all appearances, Circadian Options appears to be doing well, but as we've learned with past "Shark Tank" updates, appearances can be deceiving. So, let's dive into how the company did on the show and how it's fared ever since.

Amber Leong entered the proverbial tank asking for $750,000 for a 10% equity stake in Circadian Optics, her company that makes light therapy lamps. Citing her experience working in an office in Minnesota, where sunlight is already at a premium even if you spend significant time outside, she had found light therapy lamps incredibly helpful in regulating her sleep cycle and thus improving her energy levels. However, her coworkers were put off by just how unsightly her lamp was, constantly poking fun at her for using it, and this led to her seeing a gap in the market: light therapy lamps that had a sense of style.

Pushed for her sales figures, Jeong broke down the numbers as $7.4 million in lifetime sales, $4 million of which was in 2018. She said that her average sale was $57.99 and her margin was 70%, and, for 2019, was projected to gross $5.6 million with a $1.3 million profit. Given her success, she wanted a strategic partner much more than an infusion of cash.

Lori Greiner asked for Leong's backstory, with the entrepreneur explaining that, in Malaysia, her parents spent everything they had to send her to school in the U.S. Tearing up, she explained how months into living in the States, she was seriously ill with Toxic Shock Syndrome and her parents couldn't visit her due to lacking the proper visas. Guest Shark Rohan Oza didn't think he could provide value and went out, but Greiner and Cuban made a joint offer of $750,000 for 20%, only for Barbara Corcoran and Kevin O'Leary to make an identical offer. After Greiner offered an extra $50,000 for Leong's parents, she took that deal.

At some point during due diligence, the deal got called off, so it never closed. Both Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban have pages on their websites for their "Shark Tank" companies, and neither mentions Circadian Optics. In an interview with Mashable Southeast Asia that ran days after the episode premiered, Leong appeared to indicate that they were still far from a final deal. "We are so humbled we received an offer from Mark and Lori!!" she said when asked about details of the deal. "While I am unable to talk about specifics yet, we are in communication with their teams and are excited for what's next for Circadian Optics."

The early episodes in a given season of "Shark Tank" are shot in June, so by that point, it had been almost four months since taping without a finalized deal. In the March-April 2020 issue of Inc., Leong told her story in "as told to" format in an article credited to Emily Canal, and at first glance, it reads like the deal was closed. But if you read closely, a different picture emerges: Outside of the arguable implications of referring to it as "my Shark Tank deal," she never outright says that the deal passed due diligence and closed.

By the time the Inc. story ran — Google News pegs it as going online on March 16, 2020 — it had been roughly nine months since Leong's episode was shot. It's not clear if she was being deliberately evasive, but given the speed at which many "Shark Tank" deals close, it seems likely that her offer from Greiner and Cuban was dead by then.

Amber Leong sold Circadian Options at some point in the year after the Inc. article came out; it's just not clear exactly when. We know that the company was acquired by Thrasio, a company that buys standout "Fulfilled by Amazon" e-commerce businesses, but there's no announcement of the deal available on the public, indexed internet. Thrasio's first press release on PRNewswire to mention Circadian Optics as one of its brands was published on February 9, 2021, but it's written in a way that frames the lamp company as one of its existing holdings, "Thrasio brands include the Vybe Percussion deep tissue massage gun, Circadian Optics bright light therapy lamps, and skincare products from Sdara Skincare."

According to a January 2023 company profile at WebRetailer.com, Thrasio targets brands with $1 million to $100 million in annual revenue for acquisition. The article touts it as "the fastest profitable U.S. company ever to hit a $1 billion valuation," designed to rapidly grow already successful Fulfilled by Amazon businesses that it purchases.

As for the Circadian Optics brand, it's still going with its Amazon store, although Thrasio isn't doing the best job of maintaining and marketing the brand. Its X, formerly known as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts, have all been dormant for a few years, and going by Wayback Machine archives, its website was dropped for an exclusive Amazon presence in mid-2022. That Amazon store, while still stocked and functional, appears to also be neglected. The featured Circadian Optics Lumos 2.0 Light Therapy Lamp is listed on the main storefront as "Currently unavailable," but it links to a different Circadian Optics lamp that's still in stock.

According to her LinkedIn page, Amber Leong still worked for Circadian Optics under Thrasio through December 2021. After taking a break for a few months, she moved on to General Mills, where she co-founded G-Works Venture Studio, the massive food company's internal venture capital arm.

As described on its website, "our co-founder teams work to uncover opportunities in the marketplace by focusing on big consumer problems related to food." As of this writing, its portfolio includes Good Measure (a snack brand focused on products with a low impact on blood sugar levels), Carbe Diem (a low-carb pasta company), and Yumble (makes custom mix-and-match lunches for kids). Leong, though, is not listed on G-Works' "People" page listing its staff.

Leong's only non-LinkedIn, public-facing social media presence comes in a handful of public posts on her Facebook page. One post jumps out in particular, pointing to something missing from her LinkedIn page: On February 8, 2022 — post-Thrasio/pre-G-Works — she unveiled her new, separate light therapy company, Nocturne, specifying that it was "the big project we have been working on for almost 16 months" — a time when her LinkedIn says she was still at Circadian Optics/Thrasio. Specializing in solar-powered outdoor lamps with built-in Bluetooth speakers, Leong was Nocturne's CEO at launch, according to a March 2022 press release that also says the company was founded in 2020.

Nocturne's website is seemingly still a functional storefront, but its "About" page has a massive red flag: it's largely filler text. That said, Nocturne also has a functional Fulfilled by Amazon store under its corporate name, Bask.

Is this what Leong is doing now? Is G-Works? It's difficult to discern.