Local startup to appear on ‘Shark Tank’
.jpg "Alex Furmansky is the founder of Budsies, which will appear on ABC’s “Shark Tank” Friday night.")
Will the Sharks bite on Budsies? Tune in Friday night to find out.
Alex Furmansky is the founder and CEO of Budsies, a Lake Worth-based company that turns drawings and pictures into custom-sewn plush figurines or stuffed animals. Furmansky launched Budsies out of his South Florida home in August 2013 and has sold about 8,000 Budsies so far. He will now get a chance at exposure to 8 million ABC "Shark Tank" fans – and a possible investment from the celebrity investors, including Daymond John, Kevin O’Leary and Mark Cuban. The show airs at 9 p.m.
Budsies taped its Shark Tank episode last fall and is not allowed to say more about the investing outcome, but Furmansky is excited about the marketing opportunity: “Budsies has already brought a tremendous amount of joy into the lives of so many of our customers – including children who are fighting cancer and create Budsies of their superhero parents and armed forces members who can’t be home for the holidays but send Budsie Selfies of themselves instead. I cannot wait to see what the imaginations of this new influx of customers will create.”
The company has worked with and received orders from professional illustrators, corporate brands, video game producers, book authors, creative adults, teenagers and children, Furmansky said. The product line includes The Original Budsie, Budsie Selfies and Budsie Petsies.
Budsies will be the second South Florida company to appear on Shark Tank this year. Last month, AquaVault was on the show, and ended up making a deal with Shark Daymond John: $75,000 for 25 percent of the company.
Nancy Dahlberg
This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Local startup to appear on ‘Shark Tank’."