Shark Tank Australia judge Robert Herjavec shocks with record $1m investment in an ‘Uber for laundry’ service

Canadian investor Robert Herjavec made a record investment in Shark Tank Australia on Tuesday evening.

Herjavec, 61, who took part in the Channel 10 reality show this year, extended a lifeline to laundry company CEO Susan Toft.

The offer came after the other four ‘sharks’ chose not to invest in her company.

Susan was looking for a $750,000 investment in exchange for a 10 percent stake in her company Laundry Lady, which she started in 2020.

As a single mother, she launched the company with initial sales of $200,000.

This year, Laundry Lady is expected to reach an impressive $3.8 million in sales.

“We’re going to double that again next year,” she said. ‘But we’ve only just started. There’s a lot of dirty laundry there.”

Susan made a compelling pitch for her company, which the “sharks” dubbed an “Uber for laundry” because of its mobile laundry service concept.

However, the majority of sharks believed her $7.5 million valuation was overly optimistic.

Robert, the last remaining investor, expressed concern that without additional financing, Susan’s company might struggle to keep up in a competitive market.

“So I’ll give you more money,” he said. “I’ll give you a million dollars,” which was met with cheers from everyone in the room.

But the deal didn’t happen without specific conditions and requirements.

‘I want thirty percent. I’ve been there and I see the risk. I see the scale issues. “I’m trying to assess the risk to me, so that’s my offer,” he said.

Susan accepted the deal and said she would focus on marketing, improving the company’s digital systems and exploring opportunities in the international market.

Some of the most significant investments to ever take place on the show include Boost founder Janine Allis’ offer of $300,000 to healthy eating company Be Fit Food in 2017.

In 2019, Naomi Simpson and Steve Baxter jointly invested $380,000 in fintech start-up Qpay, splitting 8.4 percent equity between them.

Shark Tank Australia initially aired in 2015 and went on hiatus after the 2018 season.

The show made its long-awaited return with its fifth season in August this year.

The revival brought five new ‘sharks’ to join the show’s panel, including Herjavec, digital marketing expert Sabri Suby, tech entrepreneur Catriona Wallace, The Oodie founder Davie Fogarty and Showpo founder Jane Lu.

The original line-up included Boost Juice founder Janine Allis and was hosted by Harris.

The multi-millionaire investors also included technology investor Steve Baxter, Talent2’s Andrew Banks, Red Balloon’s Naomi Simson and Glen Richards, founder and CEO of Greencross Vets.