April marks our two year anniversary since our first Shark Tank appearance. We’ve come a long way since those pesky, sticky tape kits, and even made it back on the show this year for this year’s edition of ‘ Where Are They Now’. While it wasn’t the Oscars, it was still one of the best segments of the year in the Tank!
The 2021 premiere episode of ABC’s Shark Tank featured Basepaws founder and CEO, Anna Skaya, as she returned to our television screens to give viewers an update on Basepaws’ growth and progress since first appearing on the show in 2019. At the time, we were a brand new startup hoping to get some pet-loving sharks to notice us - let’s take a look back at how far we have come!
A little bit of History
The idea for Basepaws came about in 2017 as at-home human genetic testing products were on the rise, but no one bothered to apply the same science and technology to our pet cat. Dogs, sure - plenty of companies were looking at canine genetics, but cat health and DNA testing was years behind. Underfunded and understudied, feline science needed a boost. Basepaws was born out of the need of millions of cats, and their loyal parents. From there, the first at-home cat DNA test entered the market.
Basepaws on Shark Tank
Prior to strutting your paws on the Shark Tank catwalk, a company has to show that they are not only a potentially breakthrough business but also have an engaging and relatable story to tell. When Basepaws’ pitch was brought before the sharks during the show’s tenth season in 2019, the idea was that the sky was the limit regarding animal genetic testing. With a few thousands of DNA kits sold and a predicted revenue of $400,000 in the company’s first year, Anna entered the tank seeking $250,000 in exchange for 5% ownership. Kevin O’Leary was the first to jump at the opportunity with an offer to match funds sought in exchange for 8.3% ownership and 1.7% in advisory shares. Shark Robert Herjavec also took an interest, and Anna earned a deal with both sharks!
Growth After Shark Tank
Since successfully making a deal with the sharks, Basepaws has grown 10X and is considered one of Shark Tank’s more successful deals. Anna attended Kevin’s summit in Miami with the top managers of Amazon Launchpad and Facebook. In 2020, Basepaws landed a feature on Facebook’s Boost My Business, a web series aimed at helping entrepreneurs “boost” their business’s presence on the social media platform, and hosted by fashion designer Tan France.
Where Are We Now?
The first time Basepaws appeared on Shark Tank in 2019, we were just ‘‘23andmeow,” focusing only on DNA testing. Since those early days, a lot has changed! Basepaws is now a prominent cat health company, and we have done important work in feline cancer and feline diabetes, upgraded our DNA test to include both breed and genetic health markers and recently launched our second product, the Cat Dental Health test.
Through it all, our mission has remained the same: to help cat parents know most about their cats. The best thing we can do for our pets is to be proactive. Take the first step in improving your cat’s care and test now!
