Where Trey Brown's SPERGO Company Is After Shark Tank

Summary SPERGO, founded by 15-year-old Trey Brown, secured investment from Daymond John on Shark Tank for $300,000 in exchange for 20% of the company.

SPERGO experienced a 2000% spike in sales post-Shark Tank appearance but hasn't confirmed Daymond's investment publicly despite ongoing success.

Brown's vision to become a young billionaire is on track, with SPERGO's remarkable growth and presence in social media underscoring his ambition.

SPERGO is a multimillion-dollar company that appeared on Shark Tank, and the founder was only 15 years old when he stepped up in front of the sharks. The acclaimed Shark Tank, the Americanized adaptation of the Japanese reality series Dragon's Den, features real-life business owners and inventors pitching their best ideas to the Shark Tank sharks, a rotating stable of successful and wealthy investors. A reality show where the work starts after someone wins, hopeful entrepreneurs must convince one of the sharks to partner up and/or invest and take their businesses to the next level.

Several successful products have resulted from deals on Shark Tank and there are plenty of cases where the sharks have failed to see the future of what would go on to be a lucrative business. Myriad companies, brands, and ideas have come through the tank. One of these is SPERGO, a fashion brand founded by Trey Brown, the 15-year-old CEO who named the company after a portmanteau of "sport," "hero," and "go". Along with his mother, Sherell Peterson, Brown came on Shark Tank to get some bites from the sharks.

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SPERGO Made A Deal With Daymond John On Shark Tank

Daymond Agreed To Invest $300,000 For 20% Of The Company

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Brown came on the show for season 13, episode 5, and asked for $300,000 for 10% of his fashion brand, SPERGO. It's an impressive story Brown tells the sharks. On his 12th birthday, Brown invested all his birthday money into the business that makes embroidered shirts, hats, sweatsuits, and other types of comfort clothes that are still fashionable. Growing up in Philadelphia, Brown went door-to-door selling his premium-branded apparel and grew the company into a behemoth with sales-to-date of $1.8 million in three years.

Brown also talks about his reasons for starting SPERGO,

"Growing up in the city of Philadelphia was really hard. Violence and drug-infested and I didn't really see a lot of positive things. And it's a lot of kids just like me and I wanted to be the light and role model, for not just youth in the city of Philadelphia but all over to show them that it's possible that you could chase your dreams, and you don't have to be violent or you don't have to get into drugs to make money. And my mom, she was a seamstress; also growing up in a household where church is every Sunday. We getting dressed up every day; suit, ties every Sunday, so clothing was really like an essential thing in my household."

It's impressive to watch the young teen speak confidently and knowledgeably, with an answer for every question the sharks throw at him. Lori can't help but comment,

"You know, I'm blown away by — he's 15 years old, and he's talking like he's 50!"

Despite how good the business sounds, Lori, Robert, and Kevin refuse, admitting they don't know much about the space. Mark offers $300,000 for 25%, saying how, though it's not his area, he wants to help young entrepreneurs. Daymond John refuses to go in with Mark and instead matches Cuban's offer, despite earlier considering SPERGO so successful he's not sure if it needs any help. Brown quickly counters with $300,000 for 20% and Daymond agrees after just a moment of thought.

SPERGO Continues To Be A Huge Success After Shark Tank

SPERGO Saw Their Orders Increase By 2000%

SPERGO has gone on to be a successful brand since appearing on Shark Tank, earning a bump from the "Shark Tank effect", whereby simply appearing on the show, a company can expect to see its sales boosted. SPERGO received a 2000% increase in orders after their appearance (via Philadelphia Business Journal).

Their social media accounts continue to retain high numbers of followers, a critical metric in the 21st century, with 112k followers on Instagram, though not as many on X and Facebook, with little over 1000 and 6100 followers, respectively. Oddly, the SPERGO website has no mention of Shark Tank anywhere. There are no official confirmations of Daymond investing the $300,000 into SPERGO and there are many instances of deals falling through on Shark Tank after the cameras stop rolling (via Forbes).

The Shark Tank Blog claims the deal went through, though it has no sources to back that up and a company that proudly touts celebrities like Shaquille O’Neil and Da Baby would likely have Daymond on that list if he did invest. Brown has a dream of becoming a 21-year-old billionaire and while he's headed in that direction, he does not appear on Forbes' real-time billionaire list. But Shark Tank or not, Brown certainly has the ambition.