Trans-Owned Sock Drawer Heroes Scores Investment Deal On Shark Tank Australia
Image: Supplied by Sock Drawer Heroes
Sock Drawer Heroes, the first trans-owned company to appear on the Channel 10 series Shark Tank Australia, has scored an investment deal with non-binary and genderqueer Shark, Dr Catriona Wallace.
Sock Drawer Heroes is a business, based in Sydney, that specialises in gender-affirming products to help trans and gender-diverse people feel more comfortable in themselves.
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Wallace: It Was An Easy Decision To Invest
On the October 17 episode, Sock Drawer Heroes co-founders Erin Spencer and Bec Cerio appeared before the Sharks. Their ask: an investment of $120,000 for a 7.5 percent stake in the company.
After all was said and done, Sock Drawer Heroes walked away with a $60,000 investment from Dr Catriona Wallace for an 8 percent stake in the company. They also received pro bono e-commerce, website, and social media advice from Shark Jane Lu of Showpo.
Explaining their decision to invest, Wallace said in a statement, “I have been a long-time supporter and ally of the LGBTQ+ community so my attention peaked as Erin and Bec entered the Tank. The pitch from Erin and Bec was very compelling with Sock Drawer Heroes being one of the best companies we had seen on the show.
Wallace continued, “It was an easy decision for me to invest – the founders were excellent, the business was profitable, it serves an important community and I identify as non-binary and genderqueer. I am very happy that I can continue to support the community through my involvement with Bec and Erin and Sock Drawer Heroes.”
Spencer: Trans Non-Binary Representation On National Television Most Important Outcome
Talking about the experience of going on Shark Tank Australia, Spencer shared that it was not the financial investment that sealed the deal of appearing on the show.
“It was the opportunity for trans non-binary representation on national television,” Spencer said in a statement.
“If just one kid watches the show and sees a positive future for themselves, that’s the most important outcome. That’s worth more than any amount of money. As we said in our pitch, it was very important to us that anyone we work with is an ally to the trans and gender-diverse community.”
Spencer continued, “Little did we know that one of the Sharks was going through their own gender identity journey. We are not only grateful for Cat’s investment, which will help us grow our business, but we are so excited to have welcomed Cat into our queer family.”
Sock Drawer Heroes was founded in 2018 after Spencer started to affirm their gender and discovered the lack of local, affordable gender-affirming products.
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Shark Tank Australia
Shark Tank Australia features a panel of well-to-do investors, called Sharks, who decide whether to invest in entrepreneurs’ businesses after listening to the entrepreneurs’ pitch.
The Sharks this season include Catriona Wallace of Responsible Metaverse Alliance, Robert Herjavec of Herjavec Group, Jane Lu of fashion boutique Showpo, Sabri Suby of King Kong Digital Marketing Agency, and Davie Fogarty of Davie Group.
Editor Note: In Tuesday night’s episode both Wallace and Lu initially offered a joint investment of $120,000 for a 16 percent stake in the company. However, Lu pulled out of her part of the investment “due to having limited capacity.”
