On Mark Cuban's final 'Shark Tank' episode, he offered $125,000 to a Texas restaurant chain: 'I definitely love it'
Deviled Egg Co., founded in 2017 by former bar and lounge manager Raechel Van Buskirk, began as a side hustle in Omaha, Nebraska. Van Buskirk, the company's CEO, experimented with a variety of off-beat deviled egg flavors, and catered them from her home before teaming up with business partner Alexi Wellman — originally the company's first investor, Van Buskirk says — to launch a food trailer in 2020.
Today, the business is a full-fledged restaurant — with two sit-down locations and one grab-and-go storefront, all near the Dallas metropolitan area — featuring deviled egg flavors like crab rangoon, cheeseburger and chicken quesadilla. Deviled Egg Co. also ships a 36-egg kit, called the "Shark Tank Special," to further-flung customers.
Deviled Egg Co. brought in just under $1.3 million in annual revenue 2024, and was profitable, says Van Buskirk. On the TV show, she and Wellman asked a panel of investor judges for $150,000 in investment funds, in exchange for a 5% equity stake in their company.
"We do plan to use part of [the investment] to open two more grab-and-go models," Van Buskirk said on the show. "We have people that want to franchise already," added Wellman, now the company's CFO and COO.
After starting with their food trailer, the duo launched their restaurant location in Omaha in 2021. They expanded to Texas in 2023: Van Buskirk had family in the area, and after being diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2022, she wanted to be closer to her loved ones, she says.
She's currently in full remission, she adds. She and Wellman closed their Omaha location in December.
The "Shark Tank" judges enjoyed their sample deviled eggs, with Daymond John saying, "This is probably the best thing I've ever eaten in 16 years on this stage." But he ultimately declined to offer Deviled Egg Co. an investment, saying he'd rather be a customer than a co-owner. Lori Greiner agreed, and similarly declined to extend an offer.
Barbara Corcoran said she saw potential. She offered $150,000 for 15%, saying that's the same equity stake she has in other "Shark Tank" food companies like Cousins Maine Lobster and Crispy Cones. Kevin O'Leary made a competing offer, $150,000 for 20% of Deviled Egg Co.
That's when Cuban offered to go in on a deal with Corcoran: $250,000 for 20%, with both figures split evenly between the two investors. "I definitely love it," said Cuban.
Corcoran agreed to the partnership, and Wellman and Van Buskirk immediately accepted the offer. "I cannot wait to make them so much money," Van Buskirk said. (Post-taping, the deal has yet to be confirmed, with negotiations still in progress, Van Buskirk now says.)
The offer marked a bittersweet end to Cuban's run on the show. The billionaire investor tearfully reminisced on the days when he too hoped to find investors who believed in him. He now plans to spend more time with his family, and devote more of his work focus to his online pharmacy startup Cost Plus Drugs.
"What I'd like to say is thanks [to] everybody who took a chance on me, all the entrepreneurs who said yes to me — who knows how many millionaires we've created — and their employees. How many people we've inspired," Cuban said on the show. "I'm proud of what we've done."
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