What Happened To The Poplight From Shark Tank Season 15?

The 11th episode of the 15th season of ABC's "Shark Tank" premiered on January 19, 2024, to an audience of 3.88 million people according to Nielsen Media Research's viewership ratings. The second of four pitches featured that week was for PopLight, a rechargeable battery-powered (or USB Type-C powered if need be) stick-on wall light that doesn't damage the surface you affixed it to upon removal. As of the episode being shot, they not only hadn't shipped product yet, but hadn't even manufactured it yet, only having tooling prototypes to show off after successfully funding their initial order on Kickstarter. 

Of the investors on "Shark Tank," three opted out during the segment — one because he felt the founders should take one of the previous offers, and the others because they weren't sold on the concept, leaving the entrepreneurs with two royalty-centric deals. Let's take a detailed look at how PopLight weaved its way through "Shark Tank" and onto the market.

Wife/wife duo Caroline and Rose Matthes entered the tank seeking a $150,000 investment for eight percent equity in PopLight, their battery-powered stick-on lighting company. Equipped with a built-in level for easy, perfect-the-first-time installation, as well as a dimmer switch, it can be charged — or outright powered, if you don't mind the appearance of the cable — via USB Type-C. PopLight also has its own mobile app, which allows for selection of three color warmths, setting a sleep timer, dimming remotely, or controlling multiple PopLights.

The PopLights showcased in the segment were the initial tooling prototypes of the product, as it hadn't hit the market; the plan was to retail them at $95 each for a significant margin over the $30 landed wholesale cost. After prompting by Barbara Corcoran, we got the battery specs: About four hours to charge with a runtime of five to nine hours, depending on the brightness.

Kevin O'Leary agreed to meet Caroline and Rose at their ask with a caveat: A $2 royalty until he makes $500,000 back, then $1 in perpetuity. Barbara Corcoran offered $150,000 for no equity but a $20 royalty instead, while Robert Herjavec pulled out because he felt he'd take Kevin's offer in their shoes. Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban then pulled out because they weren't entirely sold. A counter to Barbara at a $12 royalty was countered back by splitting the $150,000 into cash and credit, so the Matthes' went with Kevin's original offer.

At first glance, it's difficult to tell if the PopLight deal closed after due diligence was completed. (Remember: What we see on TV is actually a preliminary negotiation, and deals often fall apart after the episode is shot during the real-world due diligence and negotiation process.) Kevin O'Leary has a page on his website about his "Shark Tank" investments, and it doesn't mention PopLight, but it's not at all clear if that investment list is supposed to be exhaustive. In addition, his only post about PopLight on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is from the night that the episode in question premiered. 

As of this writing in March 2025, the best answer appears to come from a September 2024 appearance on the Startup to Storefront podcast. There, when asked point-blank if the deal closed, the wives conceded that they were still in the process of finalizing it. (Since "Shark Tank" shoots each "pod" of episodes in June and September, this means that the post-shooting negotiation and due diligence process had already been going on for at least a year.) 

As for the PopLights themselves, Kickstarter preorders started shipping in May 2024, with all preorders fulfilled by mid-July. Caroline told SharkTankRecap.com in January 2024 that they saw a 1,500 percent increase in orders when the episode aired.

By all appearances, PopLight is still a fully functioning company, with its wares being sold direct-to-consumer on the company's official website, ThePoplight.com. There, PopLight is available for the same price mentioned on "Shark Tank" — $95, with a selection of seven different colors available for the base of the light. The site also sells extra battery packs in each color for $28 each, plus matching two-meter USB cables for $4 each, extra adhesive in packs for six strips for $8, and bundle options that include the extra adhesive as a "free gift." 

So...what's next? "I think, from talking to people in the lighting industry, [like] retailers, there's a really big hunger for more colorful products," Rose told Startup to Storefront in September 2024, but updates otherwise have been scarce. The company does maintain an active social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, plus a YouTube channel that's updated infrequently, last getting a reposted TikTok video in January 2025.

Behind the scenes, we can get a sense of what both Matthes women are up to via their respective LinkedIn pages. In January 2024, the month that the "Shark Tank" episode aired, Rose left her job as a Customer Success Manager at Atlan to work full-time at PopLight, where she's listed as Creator and Founder. Caroline's page, meanwhile, doesn't even mention PopLight, instead focusing on her career as a social worker.