Flated Inflatable - Shark Tank Update

Ken Hoeve and his co-founders at Flated arrived on Shark Tank with an innovation that sounds almost counterintuitive: a truck topper that deflates into a duffle bag. Drawing on years of experience in the paddleboard industry - where inflatable boards were once ridiculed before capturing roughly 90 percent of the market - the Flated team applied drop-stitch inflatable technology to the world of automotive accessories, creating the first truly portable, packable truck cap on the market.

Their insight was straightforward but powerful: the same engineering that makes a rigid inflatable paddleboard possible also works for truck accessories, producing a structure that is lightweight, weather-resistant, and incredibly compact when not in use. The company was founded in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the founders recognized that traditional fiberglass and aluminum truck toppers - which typically retail for $3,500 or more - carried serious drawbacks: permanent installation, heavy weight, inability to quickly convert the truck bed back to open cargo use, and a price point that put them out of reach for most truck owners.

Flated's flagship Air Topper retails at $1,899, inflates in minutes, installs without tools, seals the truck bed against rain and weather, and deflates into a compact bag small enough to store behind a seat - at nearly half the price of a conventional topper. The product line expanded to include the Air Carrier at $629, an inflatable rooftop cargo carrier that serves as a direct alternative to premium brands like Thule, and the Air Deck at $549, an inflatable sleeping platform for the truck bed that creates a flat camping surface with usable storage space underneath.

All three products use the same drop-stitch construction borrowed from premium inflatable paddleboards, delivering rigid structural performance when inflated and true portability when packed away. When Ken and his team stepped into the Tank seeking $350,000 for 5 percent equity - implying a $7 million valuation - they came with real sales momentum.

Through the summer of 2022, the company had generated $277,000 in year-to-date revenue and was projecting $600,000 for the full year. They had already secured a purchase order from a national retailer and had previously raised $500,000 from outside investors in addition to personal capital contributions from each founder.

The Air Topper alone accounted for roughly 80 percent of all sales, demonstrating clear product-market fit within their core audience of outdoor enthusiasts, truck campers, and weekend adventurers. The pitch generated interest but the $7 million valuation proved a sticking point.

Lori Greiner felt the valuation was too high for the current revenue stage and stepped out. Kevin O'Leary assessed the business was worth closer to $1 million than $7 million and declined.

Mark Cuban cited a personal need to physically interact with products before investing and bowed out. Robert Herjavec felt the team was still in an early grinding phase that did not fit his portfolio.

That left Daymond John, who recognized parallels between Flated's story and the early rise of inflatable paddleboards - a technology once dismissed that ultimately dominated its market.

Daymond John secured a deal with Flated for $350,000, structured as an 8 percent royalty arrangement on sales until the investment was recouped followed by a perpetual 5 percent royalty - giving Daymond returns tied directly to revenue while allowing the founders to retain more equity upside as they scaled. The team briefly countered with 7 percent and 4 percent, but Daymond held firm on his original terms.

After deliberating, Ken and his partners accepted, gaining both the capital and Daymond's distribution relationships in the automotive and outdoor retail space. The deal officially closed in July 2023, approximately four months after the episode aired, giving the team resources to accelerate manufacturing and retail distribution during peak summer truck-camping season.

Daymond publicly endorsed the Air Topper on social media, delivering the product to his millions of followers across multiple platforms and generating a significant wave of new customers who had never encountered the brand. The Shark Tank effect proved immediate and powerful.

Flated launched the fourth-generation Air Topper in May 2023, incorporating design refinements from two years of customer feedback. In July 2024 the company expanded again with an inflatable picnic table and chairs, demonstrating that Flated's drop-stitch technology platform extends well beyond automotive accessories into a broader outdoor recreation and lifestyle brand.

By July 2024, Flated's monthly revenue had surpassed $750,000, translating to an annualized run rate exceeding $9 million - a dramatic leap from the $600,000 full-year projection the founders presented during their pitch just two years earlier. Distribution expanded significantly post-show.

Products are available through the company's direct-to-consumer website, REI.com, and a growing network of automotive aftermarket specialty retailers including All American Truck and SUV Accessory Centers nationwide. The multi-channel approach combines the high margins of direct online sales with the discovery advantage of physical retail, where truck owners shopping for accessories can experience the Air Topper firsthand and immediately understand why it outperforms rigid conventional alternatives.

Industry analysts estimating Flated's current net worth place the company's value between $7 million and $10 million as of 2025 - essentially validating the $7 million valuation the sharks debated during the pitch. The company's trajectory mirrors the founders' predication almost precisely: just as inflatable paddleboards went from being mocked to dominating their market, Flated's inflatable truck accessories are building a strong position in a category historically dominated by heavy, expensive, permanent hardware.

The deal structure delivered meaningful advantages for both sides during the growth phase. Daymond received returns tied directly to revenue performance, incentivizing him to actively support sales growth, while the Flated team retained the equity upside of a company that grew from a summer projection of $600,000 to a $9 million annual run rate in under two years.

The successful scaling of Flated represents one of Season 14's stronger investment outcomes, combining a genuinely novel product built on proven technology with a founder team whose industry background and manufacturing relationships enabled rapid execution.