Mad Rabbit Before Shark Tank
Mad Rabbit is a brand that creates an alternative balm for tattoo aftercare that is made from all-natural, clean ingredients. Mad Rabbit sells products like lotion, sunscreen, body wash, soothing gels, and of course, tattoo balms. After getting a tattoo, it is necessary to apply balms, lotions, etc. in order to prevent the ink from attracting bacteria, dust, etc. However, a lot of well-known tattoo aftercare products contain a variety of chemicals that can cause the skin to become irritated. They even run the risk of the new tattoo being faded or damaged. Nonetheless, with the Mad Rabbit tattoo aftercare products, it’s possible to keep those fresh tattoos safe and clean while also protecting the skin and remaining sustainable. Mad Rabbit’s products are made without any kind of harmful chemicals.
Mad Rabbit Tattoo Aftercare was founded by Oliver Zak and Selom Agbitor in 2019. Oliver is a graduate of Miami University. Before attending Miami University, he participated in a few internships, both during and after high school. Some companies he did internships with were GorMonjee Inc., Consult Mango Inc., Executor.org, TecTraum, and EY-Parthenon. He graduated college in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in finance before getting a full-time job with EY-Parthenon. During this position, he was a strategy and execution consultant for about a year and a half.
Co-founder Selom Agbitor also studied at Miami University from 2015 to 2019 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in finance. As for his experience before college, he also participated in some internships; however, he was a law intern with William Amattey Attorney at Law, a business co-op intern with Molina Healthcare, and an indexer for Nationwide Insurance before he got into finance. His first finance-based internship was in May of 2018, when he was an eCommerce finance intern for Unilever. After graduating from Miami University in 2019, Selom went on to work in finance and accounting with Textron Aviation and Bell Flight. 
Oliver and Selom started their Mad Rabbit tattoo aftercare business in 2019, and it turns out they both had a similar vision for the company prior to starting it. Both founders are fans of tattoos. The idea for Mad Rabbit came to Oliver after he had gotten his very first tattoo. Once the tattoo artist finished the work, he advised Oliver to use petroleum jelly to care for the ink during its healing stage. Although it’s quite common to use this jelly, Oliver and Selom knew that petroleum jelly actually keeps bacteria locked inside without any way to let the moisture and bacteria breathe out. This then often leads to infections and potentially damaged tattoos. Many people use this substance due to the lack of better alternatives on the market. Hence, Oliver and Selom wanted to create a better alternative.
The founders got to work on finding the right formula to craft their tattoo balms. Knowing they wanted their recipe to be plant-based and natural, they included ingredients such as cucumber, cocoa butter, shea butter, calendula, beeswax, lavender, and almond. When it came time to market their tattoo aftercare products, Oliver and Selom turned to social media. Aside from marketing and promoting their products themselves, they also reached out to some influencers to ask them to do the same. While this tactic worked quite well for Oliver and Selom, they would like a shark’s help in growing Mad Rabbit to become bigger and more well-known.
Mad Rabbit on Shark Tank
Oliver Zak and Selom Agbitor enter the Shark Tank on March 26, 2021, for the season 12-episode 8 show. The founders are asking for $500,000 in exchange for a 5% stake in their tattoo aftercare business, Mad Rabbit. This would mean that their business is valued at $10 million. Oliver and Selom introduce themselves and share their story with the sharks before explaining their business to them. They mention a bit about how convenient their Mad Rabbit products are for sustaining tattoos and protecting the skin. They also reveal that using their Mad Rabbit aftercare products is better and more affordable than getting a tattoo fixed professionally when trying to make a tattoo look new and brighter. 
After hearing how much Oliver and Selom believe the Mad Rabbit business is worth, Kevin O’Leary states that, if that’s the case, then the company should have really good sales numbers. Mark Cuban agrees. This is when the founders begin to reveal their sales numbers. When they launched Mad Rabbit, their only product was their tattoo balm. In 2019, this product alone brought them $400,000 in sales. They made $1.7 million in sales in 2020.So far, as of 2021, they have raised $300,000 within the past month before their Shark Tank visit. Oliver believes that they could reach $3 million in sales by the end of 2021. The tattoo balm costs $2.78 to manufacture, and the founders sell it for $19.99. Oliver and Selom also reveal that their customer acquisition costs are about $7. Mad Rabbit also has a subscription option that costs $11.99 a month. So far, they have gained about 5,000 happy subscribers.
Oliver and Selom started Mad Rabbit with $600 of their own savings. Since then, they’ve used an additional $80,000 towards marketing their products. Barbara Corcoran is the first shark to back out; she simply doesn’t think she can add anything to their business. Daymond John backed out soon after. While he likes the idea and commends Oliver and Selom on a job well done with Mad Rabbit, he also doesn’t think he can add anything to the business. Kevin O’Leary presents the founders with their first offer of $500,000 in exchange for a 5% stake in Mad Rabbit; however, he also wants to add in a 9.75% interest rate. Mark Cuban strikes a second deal with them for $500,000 in exchange for a 12% stake. After Mark refuses to partner with Lori Greiner, Oliver and Selom decide to accept his offer anyway. 
Mad Rabbit Now in 2025 – The After Shark Tank Update
Oliver Zak and Selom Agbitor successfully landed a deal with Mark Cuban during their visit to the Shark Tank. As of February [this year], there has been no mention that Mark Cuban has closed the deal with Mad Rabbit, and the business is still featured on his website. Mad Rabbit appeared on Shark Tank, and it appears that Mark has helped the founders grow their business greatly. In fact, as of late 2022, Mad Rabbit’s sales have increased by about four times each year, and they have reached an annual revenue of $20 million. At first, the increase in sales was a problem due to a slowdown in shipping that caused customers to get upset, but Oliver and Selom seem to have gotten back up to speed.
In October 2022, Mad Rabbit launched a series of new products, such as numbing cream, exfoliating bar soap, and more. Mad Rabbit’s products can be found on Amazon and the Mad Rabbit website, as well as in more than 1,000 physical stores across the United States. In addition to that, the founders are now able to ship their products internationally, including to the UK and Europe. On Amazon, the company’s products have received an overall rating of 5 stars from about 72% of their overall customers.
At the beginning of 2022, Mad Rabbit received $4 million in funding from Mark Cuban, along with rappers like Yelawolf and Riff Raff and organizations like Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Seamless Capital, LB Equity, and Acronym Venture Capital. An NFL player known as Stefon Diggs even funded Mad Rabbit. The founders shared that this extra funding was to be used towards expanding their product lines and improving their marketing efforts further. As for their marketing strategies, Oliver and Selom are continuing to use social media to promote their products. They’ve hired many social media influencers to promote Mad Rabbit on Instagram. Some of these influencers are Brooke Witt, Angela Mazzanti, Joseph Alvarado, and more. 
Furthermore, Mad Rabbit has been noticed by multiple publications. Some online publications like CNBA, Forbes, WWD, Men’s Health, The Business Journals, Byrdie, and Bustle have even featured them in success stories. In addition to that, Mad Rabbit’s tattoo products have become popular among the Inked online shop and the Tattoo Lifestyle Magazine. Fortunately, this publicity has led the Mad Rabbit founders to receive over 1,000 additional orders nearly daily. Given that, and the founders’ plans to continue improving their marketing strategies, it’s possible that their success will climb further in the coming years.
