A Unique Approach To Reduce Bicycle Accidents

Every year a lot of people get injured in bicycle accidents. It can be possible to prevent most of them with better visibility of and for the cyclist.

Conventional bicycle lighting systems contain a small headlight on the front and a small tail light on the rear. These lights do not provide adequate visibility to the rider.

To give a solution to this issue Revolights has introduced a unique bike lighting system that can be used to solve all these issues.  It moves the headlight and tail light from the bike frame straight onto the wheels. 

You may get 360 degrees of illumination with Revolights.  These bicycle wheel-mounted LED lights enhance the brightness at night.  Kent Frankovich, the founder of Revolights, represented his product on Shark Tank to get a deal from the sharks. 

Stay tuned with us to know what occurred to Revolights on Shark Tank. 

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A Brief Note On Revolights

Nearly 70% of accidents occurring during the night between cars and bikes are due to a deficiency of sideways visibility. Revolights was introduced to give a solution to this problem. 

The Revolight is white at the front and the light on the tail is red.  The company manufactures a wheel equipped with kits and lights for traditional wheels. 

It has become the dual largest bicycle manufacturer leaning on its two utility patents. They have managed to generate $600,000 in sales on the Internet during 12 months. The price of the front set is $139 and the whole set is priced at $229.

To produce the $229 light kit the company has to spend $100. The company has not experienced any revenue yet. 

Kent Frankovich was looking for funds to decrease the expenses and most importantly he was searching for some connections that would help him to build the business.  That is why he appeared on Shark Tank season 5.

Revolights brought a revolution in bicycle lighting technology. It was such a concept that had the full potential to change cycling safety forever and it caught the attention of people within no time first on Shark Tank and after that in bike stores all over America. 

Revolights utilizes LED lighting along with two utility patents for creating a unique system of lights that can be connected straight onto any bike wheel. The concept was that this would offer cyclists optimal visibility at the time of riding bikes at night. In this way, it would reduce the likelihood of accidents created due to poor visibility. 

The technology behind Revolights was no doubt exciting and remarkable but unfortunately, the company went out of business. Although the company won multiple awards like “Product Innovation” from Outside Magazine, their sales were not adequate for them to sustain profitability. This finally led to its expiration after a few years on the market.

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How Does Revolights Work?

In 2011 Revolights was introduced to prevent cycling accidents and enhance bicycle visibility. It utilizes a battery-powered LED lighting system connected to the wheels of the bicycle.

The headlights are placed on the front wheel and the brake lights are placed on the back wheel.  Clients showed incredible interest when the product was launched. 

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Who Is The Person Behind Revolights and What Is His Background? 

Kent Frankovich, a Californian mechanical engineer and entrepreneur is the founder of Revolights. He represented a new cycle accessory on the Shark Tank show.  He has a Stanford degree and NASA experience. 

He wanted to decrease the number of nighttime bicycle accidents by improving the visibility of riders. He therefore designed a sample and introduced his company through a Kickstarter campaign. 

In 2011 Kent Frankovich was able to secure more than $200,000 from Kickstarter due to his productivity, experience and remarkable product. He first began to sell the products online and it became a superhit within a short time.

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How Was Revolight Business Going Before Shark Tank? 

Kent Frankovich pitched Revolight bike lights on Shark Tank season 5 episode 19. One may use the brake light and headlight through the power of an LED battery illumination system which is mounted on the wheels of the bike. 

Magnets help to keep the lights in the same position on the spokes. The wheel hub is equipped with a power lack and fuels up the batteries with a portable USB charger.

The company acquired adequate funds from the two successful Kickstarter projects. It was able to raise $215,000 from the campaign in 2011 and in May 2013 it started the second campaign from which it raised more than $941,000.

The company is now planning to develop their products in different sizes. They are also thinking of introducing a self-charging battery system in the future. 

Besides the Amazon online market, you may get Revolights in a few REI bicycle stores. The founder was looking for some investments for the development of his business and improving its distribution efforts. 

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How Was The Revolights Shark Tank Pitch? 

Kent Frankovich appeared on Shark Tank to get an investment of $150,000 in exchange for a 10% stake in his business. He started his pitch by saying that the normal bike lights are bright in the back and front but still most of the bike accidents occur at night due to the lack of side visibility. 

That is why Kent Frankovich thought of creating Revolights which can be visible from any angle.  As soon as the founder shared the story behind the invention of the bike light Daymond used the product. He was back home at night after a bike riding experience after university.

In utter curiosity, each of the sharks assembled to look closer at the LED lights when Kent Frankovich gave the information about his product in detail.  After discussing the patents, Kevin expressed his doubts and asked Kent whether he was interested in licensing. In reply, he said yes. 

Kent shared with Lori that he was able to generate $600,000 in revenue in the first ten months of his company and all the money was earned from an online method.

He also said that the price of a single set was $139 and the whole set was available at $229. He admitted that his company was not making a huge amount of money as he used the revenue for his business capital investment. 

Robert was ready to invest the double amount Kent Frankovich had first asked for $300,000 in exchange for a 10% share in the business because of the powerful skills and creativity of Kent Frankovich. That is why Daymond and Lori left the show without giving any offer. 

Moreover, Kevin gave an offer of $150,000 for the right of a 7% royalty which would be reduced to 1% after returning his money. The founder did not accept the proposal as he was willing to have a capital investment. 

Although the founder praised the benevolence of Robert he was still willing to have some other offers.

Finally, Kent Frankovich accepted the proposal of Rubert Herjavec. 

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What Is the Closing Deal Of Revolights On Shark Tank?

As soon as the Revolight Shark Tank was aired, the company became very popular. The partnership between Ribert and Kent Frankovich was indeed lucrative. Robert gave a post on his Twitter account after the show. The effect of Shark Tank helped Kent Frankovich to get an additional investment of $1,000,000 from the Sierra Angels in 2014.

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What Occurred To Revolights After Shark Tank? 

Revolights has expanded within a short time by introducing branches in foreign communities like  South Africa, Singapore, and Brazil in the last few years. The product is now available in a lot of shops all over the United States. 

The company has included Revolights Coolidge and Revolights Eclipse in their product line. For the product Revolights Eclipse it made a crowdfunding effort through the Indiegogo show.

Revolights would surely become successful with the help of the support of investors and teammates especially with the help of the passion of Kent Frankovich. 

It was one of the occasional situations in which Mark became angry with the entrepreneur although he and Lori generally focus on the strengths of the company in place of its weaknesses. 

But the assumption of Mark Cuban was quite realistic if we look at the status of the company after the show. Some entrepreneurs appear on Shark Tank only to get funding for their business and some take part in the show only for networking opportunities and might not set the first objective for raising funds. 

However, Kent Frankovich is the entrepreneur who came up on Shark Tank for capital funds as well as connections. He showed his cleverness in the episode. Despite getting an offer greater than one he was waiting for he waited to get all the offers before making the final decision. 

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Revolights Shark Tank Update

Revolights are now not available on Amazon, brick-and-mortar retailers and websites are all set to display the light sets.  One of the biggest light retailers is REI.  But the lights of the company are still found at a lot of bike shops all over the world.

Revolights is supposed to be one of the best investments of Robert Herjavec. It led him to the bank. Unfortunately, the company went into bankruptcy. Finally, the founder of the company was compelled to close the doors of his business permanently.

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What is the net worth of Revolights? 

Kent came up on Shark Tank and asked for an investment of $150,000 in exchange for a 10% share in the business,  under the valuation of$1.5 million. But one of the sharks named Robert Herjavec was ready to invest $300,000 in exchange for a 19% share in the business which is equal to a $3 million valuation.

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Who are the competitors of Revolights? 

There are a lot of competitors of Revolights. Some of the competitors of the company are MonkeyLectric, Nori Lights – Bicycle Illumination System, and Rome Bike Bags.

Is the Revolights Bike Lighting System waterproof? 

Yes, the Revolights bike lighting system is completely waterproof. So,  it will not be damaged easily.

How long does a battery charge last on the V4 design? 

A battery charge on the V4 design lasts up to 4 hours in front and in the rear, it lasts for a slightly longer time. It uses a 1000 mAh battery. At the time of operating the tool, the eight LEDs take up nearly 250 mA in total giving nearly four hours of runtime. 

Why Did Revolights Fail? 

The primary factors that led to the failure of Revolights are as follows: 

• Lack of investor interest: Although the founder was able to raise $2 million in seed funding before appearing on Shark Tank, most of the sharks were not willing to make a deal with the company except Robert Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary. Due to the lack of interest of the investors the company was unable to get more funds for development. 

• Competition: A lot of other companies also started to manufacture the same type of products by 2017. That is why the competition suddenly increased in the entire market and it consequently reduced the demand for the services of Revolights.

• Poor marketing strategy: The sales of the company started to reduce due to the tough competition in the market. At that time the company did not have an effective plan to promote its products or engage with consumers online.

• Manufacturing problems: the production procedure was affected because of frequent design changes and supply chain disturbances. As a result, the company experienced a huge loss.

The company faced the above-mentioned challenges. So,  it is quite obvious that it was very difficult for the company to sustain itself in the market and continuing operations was just next to impossible for the company.

Two years after appearing on the Shark Tank show,  the founder of the company officially announced that it was going to cease all its business operations.

Final Opinion

Revolights was indeed a revolutionary product but finally, it was not able to become successful. The high cost of the product and safety issues were the primary barriers to the company. Although the company is not active in business any more it will remain as an intriguing instance of entrepreneurial ambition and technological innovation. Despite getting funds from investors the company was not able to sustain itself financially.  However,  we would remember the innovative spirits of the founder and his contribution towards cycling culture and urban transport infrastructure. 

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