What Happened To Revolights From Shark Tank Season 5?

If you ride your bicycle in dark or foggy environments, a set of lights can be one of the best gadgets to invest in. However, sometimes these devices have their limits, particular in providing a full range of visibility that sufficiently covers a rider's front, back, and side view. Entrepreneur Kent Frankovich sought to tackle this problem with an innovative solution: Revolights.

The product acts as a smart lighting system consisting of two LED ring mounts that attach to a bike wheel's rim. As the wheels accelerate, the lights turn on and provide a significantly wider range of visibility than traditional bike lights. Needing little in the way of installation while allowing for powerful illumination, Revolights aimed to become the new normal for bike riders. 

This ambitious vision came to founder Kent Frankovich while attending Stanford University. As he explained during his "Shark Tank" appearance, Frankovich became irritated by the many potholes and similar obstructions he'd bump into while riding his bike home in the evenings, when he had difficulty seeing with his traditional bike lights. With a background in mechanical engineering, which included experience working for the healthcare tech giant Theranos and at NASA's Jet Propulsion sector on the Mars Science Laboratory mission, Frankovich went on to develop what would become Revolights. His enthusiasm was shared by an eager public, with two successful Kickstarter campaigns in 2011 and 2013 that raised $215,621 and $94,793 respectively. The product also received notable media attention from platforms such as GearJunkie and CNN.

Kent Frankovich entered the tank seeking a $150,000 investment for a 10% equity stake in Revolights. Daymond John tried out the product on the display bike before the other investors came over to closely investigate it. Frankovich explained that they are looking to cut down on production costs and the overall price. 

At the time, Revolights came available in a kit that could be applied to a bike's spokes. Frankovich assured Kevin O'Leary that they were secure, as they stay in place when a rider locks their wheels. The entrepreneur also informed O'Leary that he intended to license his technology to larger bike wheel manufacturers, but wanted to first prove their viability in the market. Revolights had been selling for 10 months and had done $600,000 in sales with a single set costing $139 and a full set going for $229. However, the company had yet to be profitable due to the hefty production costs and reinvestment into the business. 

Nevertheless, the sharks largely saw the value in both the product and Frankovich. Daymond John offered $300,000 for 30% of the business. O'Leary went for a royalty deal, willing to give $150,000 for a 7% royalty that would go down to 1% once he makes back his investment. Believing that Frankovich's value was too low, Robert Herjavec offered $300,000 for 10%, which prompted John to exit. Frankovich wished to hear out the other investors much to the chagrin of Mark Cuban, who harshly criticized the entrepreneur for undervaluing his business and not showing more interest in Herjavec's deal. Frankovich didn't agree with Cuban's assessment, but nevertheless went with Herjavec at the end.

Revolights and founder Kent Frankovich made quite an impression during their "Shark Tank" appearance. Along with the quality of the item itself, it was interesting hearing the sharks debate with the entrepreneur over how low he valued his company. While surely a way of easing the sharks into investing, it likely didn't have the antagonistic intent assumed by Mark Cuban.

The episode itself would air on March 7, 2014, as Episode 19 of the show's fifth season. The day following the airing, investor Robert Herjavec confirmed that deal went through, sharing on X, formerly known as Twitter, "What can say @mcuban – the deal has closed ! #Revolights." Not long after, the team received additional funding from other sources. In May 2014, it was announced that Revolights had received $1 million in Series A funding from several investment groups including Sierra Angels and Sacramento Angels, adding on to Herjavec's $300,000 investment. "We are thrilled to scale up our team and expand distribution of our product family to bring a new standard of safety to cyclists worldwide," Frankovich shared in a press release. 

In 2015, the team began development on the Revolight Eclipse, which featured a cleaner look, a more efficient application, and an accompanying phone app that connected to the lights through Bluetooth to enable weather alerts, ride tracking, battery status, turn signaling, and more. Like the original, it had an extremely successful crowdfunding run, this time on Indiegogo, where it raised well over $250,000.

Unfortunately, the lights would turn off on the product not long after its success after "Shark Tank." The company's activity began to waiver as the years went on, with no new posts dropping on their Instagram or X accounts since 2017. 

In 2018, Revolight's supporters were given somber news regarding the company's status. In a letter sent out to Revolight Kickstarter backers in January 2019 Kent Frankovich shared, "To all of our Revolights Supporters, We want to extend our most sincere thank-you for riding along with us on this wild 7 year journey. None of what we've accomplished could have been done without you. Yet today it is with heavy hearts that we are writing to inform you that it has come time to close down Revolights. We made big waves and rode a rollercoaster of successes and setbacks; ultimately however for reasons both personal and professional we are unable to continue." 

No definitive reasoning was given regarding Revolight's closure, although the letter later stated that the team no longer possessed the resources to provide further customer or product support, indicating that issues in supply or even funding were at play. Surprisingly, an Austrian-based Shopify website still exists that seems to still have Eclipse 700c Bike Lights in stock for €199.00. However, it's unknown if this site is officially associated with the company.

Revolights' closure is a mystery to say the least. Between its knowledgable founder in Kent Frankovich, a triumphant "Shark Tank" pitch that resulted in an investment that exceeded the initial offer, several successful crowdfunding campaigns and further investments, and a product that addressed a serious need, the company seems almost tailor-made to be alongside other thriving "Shark Tank" brands such as LARQ Water Bottle and PolarPro.

Alas, we are left wondering what could have been. However, hope was expressed that Revolights will live on in the company's aforementioned farewell letter, with the final section stating, "We hope our technology, patents and brand find a second life and will be pushing our best to give them one."

Thankfully, Frankovich has continued advancing in his own career, having gone on to work for some notable companies. After the closure of Revolights in February 2019, Frankovich held tenure at Apple where he worked as a Mechanical Design Engineer before becoming an Engineering Manager for the tech giant. He stayed with Apple for three years, leaving the position in late 2022. Since then, Frankovich has been employed as VP of Electric Propulsion at Benchmark Space Systems, a space and defense manufacturer based in Vermont. He also remains active in the entrepreneurial space, having volunteered as a mentor at the rising business and design program Camp BizSmart since 2014.