Is Pittmoss Still In Business? 

Peat Moss is a very important component in potting soils and seed-starting mediums. Nevertheless, it is reaped from wetlands, which may be harmful to animal habitats.

Mont Handley’s Pitt Moss is generally made from recycled paper. Due to this eco-friendly solution, he was able to get a deal on Shark Tank from three investors.  As of 2023, Pittmoss’s net worth is $4.5 million.

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Who Is The Founder Of Pittmoss? 

Mont Handley is the founder of Pittmoss. He lives in Chicago, Illinois. He volunteered in the United States Army as a clerk and military policeman once. Then he got his bachelor’s degree in history from Purdue University.

He at first worked in a nursery, and in 1998 he was assigned the Director of Planning and Environmental Services for Portage, Indiana. After two years he served as a senior sales manager at the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority.

Mont was appointed as the national sales director of the travel arrangements company Visit PITTSBURGH in 2005. He has to recruit for regional seminars, conferences, symposiums, and meetings.

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The Foundation History Of Pittmoss

The Chicagoan first came up with the idea of a peat moss alternative in 1994. It was just a kitchen experiment while Mont was working at a local nursery.

At the time of doing the job, he came to know about various issues with the traditional peat moss and the harm it was doing to the environment. That is why he started a long-term project to settle the problem. He ultimately introduced Pittmoss in 2011.

Pittmoss is a low-cost product that utilizes recycled paper and various organic materials. Mont found the potential in his creation after shipping out the first batch. Then he decided to quit his job so that he could concentrate on the business full-time.

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How Was Pittmoss Going Before Shark Tank? 

Mont Handley, before introducing his company Pittmoss,  was really into greenhouses. He even bought one when he was only 12 years old and it was his first job after college.

When Mont got his first job at a local nursery, his interest in the environment started to grow and he wanted to know where peat moss came from. He went through an article in Sierra magazine that documented the harmful effects of Peat Moss on the environment.

Mont developed his first batch of Pittmoss in a food processor, perfecting his formula. He left his job, liquidated his retirement fund, and focused on the business.

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What happened to Pittmoss on Shark Tank? 

Mont Hanley began his pitch with the audition tape for Pittmoss. He displayed his storefront in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He said that his product is an alternative to Peat moss. His product is an additive that helps the plants to keep water and grow quickly. He also said that his product is used in nurseries and greenhouses.

Mont told the audience that Peat moss is not at all an environment-friendly product and has horrible environmental effects. The areas where peat moss grows discharge a ton of carbon emissions into the environment.

This contains a whopping 8% of carbon emissions every year. He then said that the entire earth may face a big problem if the problem is not solved quickly.

He then said that his product provides an alternative to peat moss that is more friendly to the environment and sustainable. He disclosed the ingredients of the product and told the audience that Pittmoss was made using recycled newspapers.

He came up on the stage to introduce himself to the sharks, he said that he was from Pittsburgh. He represented Pittmoss on Shark Tank intending to get an investment of $600,000 in exchange for a 25% stake in the business.

He told the sharks that Pittmoss is a soil alternative that will help you to make the earth greener. He said that we often see plants being sold in various places like gardening centres, supermarkets, etc.

The soil that the plants come with is nearly 85% peat moss which is brought from drained peat bogs. As per Mont, it would help the battle against global warming to leave the peat bogs alone and use a substitute.

With this thought, Pittmoss was made using recycled paper and a proprietary recipe of organic additives.

According to Mont, Pitmoss was better than the usual element from any aspect. He even carried the plants they had grown in Pittmoss so that sharks could see the difference.

Mont then asked the sharks who wanted to be dirty capitalists and make an investment in his peat moss alternative firm. Robert told Mont that he wanted to see a sample.

Mont then began to distribute little cups of the stuff among the sharks. Barbara inquired how the Pittmoss compared to dirt, but Mont said that it was not an equal comparison. She followed up with how it compared to peat moss.

In reply, Mont said that Peat moss is a high-end product that is generally used by garden stores and nurseries. The cost of it was $, 2/50 a cubic foot.  On the other hand, the cost of Pittmoss was $2 a cubic foot retail.

Mont claimed that he made 60% profit on that price. Barbara was impressed as the product was quite cheap and environmentally friendly.

According to Mont, he would be able to help farmers save 15% on their current costs as it was a cheaper and more efficient product. While peat moss has impurities like larvae and pesticides, the pit moss is fully sterile and each batch is the same.

Mont claimed that Pittmoss also keeps moisture for longer than standard peat moss which enables farmers to water their crops half as much.

Kevin was curious to know about the sales. Mont replied that their takes were not so good. He said that he set up the plant one year ago, after leaving his job and liquidating his 401Ks as he did not find an investor who wanted rk with with him.

Mont began to give the Pittmoss away to potential clients and then obtained his first sale two months in. He said that he made $22,000 in the previous seven months.

Mark and Robert were eager to know when he did not get orders. According to Mont, he was repeating orders to the tune of $160,000 in sales agreements but he was not able to fulfil that requirement. There was not that capacity in his small factory.

Robert wanted to know how much the prevailing plant could make. Mont replied that it could make 200,000 tons every year which was equal to $60,000 in revenue.

Robert inquired if Mont knew going into the business that the building he was setting up could only make that little product. Mont replied that he built the factory only to prove his concept.

Kevin inquired about the resistance to selling the product. He replied that it was a big problem to change purchasing behaviour. Mont said that that was not the thing that he faced.

He handled the farmers who had no allegiance to peat moss and who wanted to give it up. Kevin came up with a speculative tomato grower who was only waiting for Mont to construct the new factory and would have no resistance to switching.

Mont declared that was essentially what it was like, but the tomato farmer would initially cultivate a small portion of crops in the Pittmoss.

Lori wanted to know whether he wanted to serve greenhouses, and farmers, or sell it directly to customers. Mont replied that he was planning to sell the product commercially at first and then to get into the consumer market through the starter soil in plants.

Lori then asked how he was getting to the greenhouses. Mont said that he gave every potential B2B customer a 50 cubic foot unit of product to try out.  Robert said that the product was indeed creative and inquired how he came up with the idea.

Mont said that he had a deep interest in commercial greenhouses since his childhood. He even purchased one when he was only 12 years old. He got his first job as a greenhouse attendant just after college.

Mont said that he was going to make a deal with Angel investors that Friday who accepted the high valuation. Robert wanted to know how much he was raising from them. Mont replied that they were raising $400,000 in convertible notes.

Mark asked him how much it would cost to maximize the plant. Mont replied that it would cost $120,000 which would in turn bring them a revenue of $1.6 million.

Barbara got into the conversation and wanted to clear the field. She said that he only had $22,000 in sales in seven months. She said that everything else they were talking about it just conjectures, and the true sales figure was the only fact. She left the deal.

Kevin inquired how much of the business he owned. Mont told him. 70%. Kevin asked him if he wanted to sell out his control of the business only to finance his potential.

Mont did not see it that way but Kevin said that he would have 49% after the sharks and the angel investor. Mark inquired if Mont wanted to walk away from the angel investors if he got a deal with the sharks.

Mont considered that and said that he would do that. Lori said that she agreed with Barbara and she was concerned that it would take people a long time to switch over from peat moss.

Mont wanted to stop her but she said that it was an unproven model. Hence she left the deal. Many governments were taking steps to stop the use of peat moss, and the U.K. had fixed dates for nations to stop voluntarily using it.

Kevin looked like he was going to off on a rant but Robert stopped him. Robert wanted to make a deal. He said that he did not want to take complete brunt of the $600, 00 but would put up $200,000 and was searching for another shark to join him.

Kevin said that he wanted to give Pittmoss $600,000 in each for 40% and kept the proposal open for other sharks. Mont did not accept that and made a counteroffer of 30%. Kebin said that if he was ready to give up 35% he would invest in the business.

Finally, Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec made the deal in return for a 35% stake in the business.

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Pittmoss Shark Tank Update

As soon as the Pittmoss Shark Tank episode was aired the deal with the sharks Mark, Kevin and Robert was closed. He managed to grow the production capacity with their assistance.

They also started to talk with a distributor– one that would package the product for consumer sales in major retailers.

The company was later featured in episode 204 of Beyond the Tank, where Mark met Mont and discussed their expansion programs. Tye Shark told him to propose to the distributor a good price for each unit which would enable them to grow further into the market.

At that time, the company had the capability of producing 40,000 pounds of Pittmoss per day. But it was not adequate for the distributor.  That is why they had to increase their production by 400% to make it work.

At this time, Mont faced a problem. He took some time to decide whether he would add a new production line or work with a manufacturer in place of it.

For the former, they required $1 million and the company did not have that money. Mark inquired Mont how he planned on pointing out the production problem.

He also said that he did not have any problem providing more money. All that he required was a spreadsheet from him– one that included the least cost, middle cost, and the cost for top-of-the-line.

In this way, he would be able to decide the percentage of capacity they would be able to hit that day and in the upcoming days.

He also motivated Mont to concentrate on replacing peat moss with the product. Finally, the latter came out of the meeting with full confidence.

He then met with the distributor and with the help of Mark, he managed to answer their queries confidently. Eventually, they talked about moving into 50-100 stores all over the United States within a year.

It was interesting that after featuring on Beyond the Tank, Mark stepped down as the CEO of the company and started to volunteer at an Indiana food bank. Nevertheless, he managed to possess a seat on the board.

From then on, they have launched new products like potting soil and animal bedding products. Although they were not able to get onto the shelves at Home Depot and Lower, they are sold at various garden centres all over the United States.

Pittmoss managed to raise nearly $297,000 from an equity crowdfunding campaign in 2021. In the same year, they declared that they were going to set foot in the international market with a factory in Lebanon.

They also disclosed that they were planning to open more factories in the United States. As of 2023, the company is still running smoothly. Pittmoss annual revenue is nearly $3 million. By 2025, they are planning to reach the $25 million mark.

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Final Opinion

Mont proved how to become a successful entrepreneur with strong willpower. He made his business successful with the help of the sharks. Pittmoss is still active in business.

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