Miami grads land ‘Shark Tank’ funds

A couple of recent Miami University grads and budding businessmen landed a major investor’s half million dollars on national TV.

Oliver Zak and Selom Agbitor, Class of 2019 finance majors, told this newspaper they were thrilled with the high-pressure sales opportunity on ABC’s “Shark Tank” and especially about luring acclaimed businessman Mark Cuban to buy partnership rights for $500,000.

Their Mad Rabbit Tattoo company, which sells natural ingredient post-tattoo skin products designed to promote healing while also enhancing a tattoo’s appearance, impressed Cuban enough for him to sign on as a financial backer.

All pretty heady stuff for the two Miami Farmer Business School graduates, who mixed their first batch of skin care products a few years ago in an off-campus Oxford apartment.

The pair, both from Ohio, said their once-fledgling company saw their online sales soar in the 15 minutes they were on national TV, garnering $60,000 in purchases.

“We are so proud of Oliver and Selom for their ingenuity and business acumen, but also for their stick-to-itiveness,” said Miami spokeswoman Jessica Rivinius. “Their success with Mad Rabbit is a wonderful realization of our Farmer School of Business’s emphasis on strategic innovation, informed risk-taking and experiential learning.”

The process for the show started in earnest about a year ago.

“I got a phone call last April for an application I filled out in November. I was kind of confused, and I thought it was a prank call at first,” Agbitor said. “The caller said, ‘Hey guys, we saw your application. I wanted to have you guys send an audition tape.’ So we did that, and the first one we sent wasn’t really that good. Fortunately, the guy liked us, so he made us redo it.”