What Happened To The Village Scholarships App From Shark Tank Season 7?

The exorbitant costs associated with going to college can be a major deterrent for those who yearn to pursue postsecondary education. While there are numerous aid options available to students, few take advantage of modern trends and advancements within the financial industry to maximize the affordability of higher education. On "Shark Tank" Season 7, entrepreneurs Antonio and Tasha Adams introduced their plans to disrupt the space with their proposed platform, Village Scholarships. 

The segment saw the twins pitch their idea, a crowdfunding site that allows prospective students to easily share and receive micro-scholarships from those in their social networks, with the intent of receiving a $125,000 investment for a 10% equity stake in the company. The two did their best to convince the celebrity investors of the viability of their concept, but with the business being in such early stages of development, the Sharks struggled to see the vision, leaving the duo empty-handed. 

Shortly after losing two athletic scholarships due to injuries, Antonio knew there had to be a more secure, streamlined way to obtain financial aid. He began doing research on crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe and Kickstarter, which were gaining traction at the time to help fund businesses and individuals alike. Wanting to create a more personalized experience for students, he blended the fundamentals of crowdfunding with dating sites, allowing students to create profiles detailing their interests in order to match with donors that resonate with their journey.

Antonio and Tasha Adams described their proposed business model of having students create profiles where friends and family can contribute to their tuition and outside donors can match that fund amount, which will then be sent directly to the school. However, the website itself had not yet launched. 

The Sharks struggled to see how Village could be a viable business if its primary purpose was to receive donations. The two explained that the site would take an 8.5% commission fee upon completion of a student's campaign. The investors believed that this was far too high, but the entrepreneurs commented that it was standard for such a service. Chris Sacca's concern was that larger competitors were better at getting campaigns in front of a wider range of donors. With a majority of donations on Village coming from a tighter-knit circle, the commission fee could become a detriment. Antonio stated that the matching aspect of their business is what would aid in distribution.  

However, with nothing to show of the business model's success, their argument rung hollow. Having already invested in two broader-scaled crowdfunding platforms, Kevin O'Leary didn't want to aid a competitor. Lori Greiner felt there was potential to integrate Village with Scholly, a scholarship-searching app that she invested in prior with Daymond John, but felt that the company was in too early of a state to go in on. Others, such as Sacca, Mark Cuban, and Robert Herjavec, either couldn't grasp the business model or felt they came in too early. The entrepreneurs left and stated they'd actively work to apply the feedback. 

In the case of "Shark Tank" businesses that don't get an offer, the aftermath of an episode's airing can still bring with it plenty of success. Companies that appear on the show will typically experience a boost in online traffic, sales, and further business offers after their segment's broadcast, which can bring newfound opportunities, such as fellow Season 7 pitches IcyBreeze, which never received an offer on the show, and PolarPro, who's investors exited during the due diligence period. 

However, it's unclear if this surge ever hit Village Scholarships in any substantial way. The pitch aired on January 15. 2016 as the 14th episode of Season 7 alongside other notable "Shark Tank" pitches, such as the parking ticket-avoidance app Fixed. On the same day, co-founder Antonio Adams shared the company's upcoming plans in an interview with Heavy. In it, he shared that he had high hopes that the "Shark Tank" episode would increase interest in the brand and that the team was planning on an official launch that summer. 

"We plan to build on the momentum of 'Shark Tank' with a strategic marketing and PR campaign that will allow us to reach thousands of students and funders," he stated. "We will seek to scale and broaden our impact over time to help millions of students achieve their singular goal of a paying for their college education without incurring insane amounts of debt." However, no evidence exists that the show aided in growth or if these plans were ever put into effect. 

In the end, Village Scholarships failed to live long after its "Shark Tank" appearance. While it appears that there was a website created, it no longer exists, and the domain name is currently up for sale. Its Facebook account has gone silent, with no new updates since March 2016. According to co-founder Antonio Adams' LinkedIn, the business ceased operations by December 2016.

While Village Scholarships certainly had an admirable cause, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why the company closed its doors. The overall business model, while not especially convoluted, requires some explanation to fully grasp, which likely would have affected users seeking a more straightforward service. But, of course, the team's biggest downfall, as many of the Sharks expressed, was pitching the business at such an early stage. 

To even have a chance of going toe-to-toe with crowdfunding giants such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and GoFundMe, Village Scholarships would at least need to be up and running so users could see what it's all about. On top of making it difficult for the investors to connect with the company's vision and better judge its potential, the absence of an active site left prospective users in the dark after the episode's airing, as those who'd want to utilize the service had no way of giving it a shot. Village Scholarships' failure to strike when the iron was hot serves as a lesson to entrepreneurs that, as Chris Sacca stated at the end of the pitch, "Ideas are cheap, but execution is everything." 

Village Scholarships may not have lasted long after its "Shark Tank" appearance, but its co-founders have had prosperous careers in the years since. Antonio Adams applied the lessons learned while running Village Scholarships to his future endeavors, sharing on his LinkedIn, "In my next venture, I'm eager to further apply my expertise in strategic planning, data analysis, and growth marketing for driving impactful business results." This mindset has seemed to serve Antonio well, as he has continued carving himself a hearty career in various marketing and growth positions. He has worked for a diverse array of IT consulting and software development firms, including Arrow Electronics, Bark, Network For Good, and Ariox, to name a few.

His twin sister Tasha has worked in various science and tech-based roles. Given her Bachelors and Masters degrees in such science from Norfolk State and University of Arizona, respectively, this career transition seems natural. Her roles have included being an Assistant Director to STEAM Science and Robotics in Colorado, a Teaching and Research Assistant at the University of Arizona, and a Junior Optical Engineer for the national tech and security manufacturer Applied Research Associates, Inc.