Cheek’d Net Worth 2021

While many inventors that appear on Shark Tank don’t receive the investment they were hoping for, not all end up dead in a ditch. One such example is Lori Cheek, who pitched her dating app on the show but was able to turn it around and successfully launch a new app that eliminates some of the things the Sharks were critical of. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to avoid being sued by a competitor, but she won the case in 2021.

Cheek’d is a service that provides its subscribers with business card-sized cards with ice-breaking pick up lines and codes, which can be handed out to people they might like. The recipient then enters the code on a website to view the sender’s profile, and if they want to keep the conversation going they can do so in a private chat room. The subscription costs $25 for a deck of cards, and there is an additional $10 monthly fee for each user.

Lori Cheek’s pitch for her company landed her a spot on Shark Tank, where the Sharks grilled her about the business model and whether it was even feasible to be profitable. While they did not offer an investment, they did provide some helpful feedback and gave her some tips on how to improve the product. After the episode aired, Cheek’d saw a huge spike in traffic on its website, which received over 100,000 hits within 72 hours, and half of those were from prospective investors. The company went on to hire a Chief Technology Officer and develop a mobile application that utilizes low-energy Bluetooth to notify users when someone who meets their criteria is nearby.

As of 2023, cheek’d is still in operation. The company has removed the awkwardness of slipping a person a card by launching a mobile app that uses Bluetooth to match people in real life. Users can set up their desired criteria and the app will send them notifications when other people that meet those requirements are within 30 feet of them. The app also places a strong focus on safety and privacy.

While the app has proven to be a success, it has not been without its bumps in the road. Cheek’d was recently sued by a competitor named Alfred Pirri, who claimed that the app infringed on his patent for a similar concept. Cheek’d won the case in March of 2021, and Pirri was ordered to pay her attorney’s fees. Hopefully, this will be the first of many successful legal battles that Cheek’d wins. As more people become aware of the risk of appearing on Shark Tank, companies will need to step up their game and learn how to protect themselves from the competition that comes with national exposure.