[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeZhnEHOMzY]
What happens when your app gets featured on ABC’s Shark Tank, the TV show where rich investors listen to pitches from wannabe entrepreneurs looking to raise funds? For app developers Egos Ventures it means shooting up hundreds of spots on the App Store charts to become the top paid app in the store overnight. The developers behind the hands-free panorama app called Cycloramic were able to capture a $500k investment from two of the Sharks on last night’s episode. We spoke to the developer who appeared on the show last night, Bruno Francois, to find out a little about the experience and get some stats on downloads following the investment.
We first told you about Cycloramic back in 2012. It was the first app (and the only) capable of taking hands-free 360-degree video by using the iPhone’s built-in vibration motors to spin the device. The developers had interest from all of the Sharks and ended up taking a $500K investment at a valuation of over $3M — even more than the company was asking for initially. You’ll notice Bruno tells the Sharks that the app has around 600k downloads in the clip above. Since filming the episode and getting the investment back in June, the app is now at more than 8 million downloads not including the influx of downloads following the episode airing last night. It appears that the Shark’s investment is paying off.
We spoke to Bruno following the show last night. He was able to give us some numbers on download activity (around 100k in an hour) and spoke about the overall experience:
I’m interested in hearing about the application and audition process for the show. Can you talk a bit about when you first got involved with the show and what the auditioning process consisted of?
Did you get to talk with the Sharks before shooting the show?
Cycloramic’s already been available for over a year and has over 7 million downloads. Was the goal of going on the show to raise the money, or more for the exposure? Were you having trouble raising the money before the show?
Along with your appearance on the show you’re launching the new Selfie app. Did the Sharks buy into Egos Ventures or just the Cycloramic apps?
Regular selfies are dull: One flat photo, one angle. With selfie360, your selfies are brought to life in 3D animations, to show yourself in 3D or in a full 360 degree panorama of your surroundings. Selfie360 lets you take 3 types of Animated Selfies:
– The Portrait Selfie is an animated 90 degree rotation of your portrait. – The Panorama Selfie: You are at the center of the scene, and the panorama scene rotates around you. – The Full 3D Selfie is a 360 degree 3D animation of someone or something. – and the HANDSFREE selfie (coming soon)
Our official Launch date was the day of the show and we are already ranked #7 in Photo Apps
What was the process of closing the deal following the show?
On the show you mentioned 660k total downloads, but the iTunes page for Cycloramic says 7 million downloads. What’s the difference between those numbers?
Following the episode of Shark Tank airing you’ve increased one of the Cycloramic apps from $0.99 to $1.99. Can you talk about that decision?
What’s the next step for the company and how will the Sharks that invested be involved?
