Whatever Happened To Woosh Smart Air Filter After Shark Tank Season 14?
In Season 14, Episode 4 of ABC's "Shark Tank," Winston Mok presents the Woosh Smart Air Filter. Founded in 2018 and started with just a 3D printer in a garage, Mok was inspired to create better air filters for homes after the 2018 California wildfires. Like any standard filter, the Woosh Smart Air Filters are placed in an HVAC. However, this one connects to smart thermostats like Nest or Ecobee to closely monitor the home's air quality and tells the system when to circulate air until it reaches a clean and healthy level. A sensor notifies when the filter needs replacing, and a new one is mailed. While air purifiers focus on cleansing the air of individual rooms, Woosh air filters work throughout the entire home.
Mok instantly piqued the investor's interest with his bubbly pitch and demonstration of what a used-up and dirty HVAC filter looks like and means for one's health. The plastic frame is reusable, and the filters are CDC and EPA-recommended MERV 13-rated filters to combat COVID-19 and wildfire smoke. Mok told the Sharks that he left his job with Google as a senior product manager to take his business on full-time and was seeking $500,000 with 10% equity. While four investors passed on the opportunity to proceed with Woosh Smart Air Filter, Kevin O'Leary posed an offer that left Mok uncertain.
Shark Tank's offer
Winston Mok went before the judges with a confident pitch, pointing out that many people overlook HVAC air filter replacement and underlining how much bacteria people breathe in daily. "That's why I created Woosh, a better air filter that's smart enough to know when it needs to be changed," he said. As Mok continued describing the air filter, he noted, "We have integrated sensors that connect to Wi-Fi. It actually checks to see — it looks at the airflow, and we actually measure the performance of your filter accurately, so we can see when it's time to be changed." Although Mok was pre-revenue and patent-pending at the time, he had raised $62,000 and signed a partnership with Emerson to bundle his product with its Sensi smart thermostat.
Woosh Smart Air Filters are sold for $99, and replacement filters for just $20 with a 33% margin on the company's cost to make the product. Four of the five sharks didn't offer investment, citing immense marketing requirements, difficult sales, the uncertainty without certified patents, and people's reluctance their air filters. However, O'Leary proposed $500,000 with 12.5% equity and a 50-cent royalty on each filter — but then changed his offer to 15% after other investors didn't show interest. Mok is hesitant about the 50-cent perpetuity per unit but countered O'Leary with 50-cent royalties for 10% equity, which O'Leary agreed to.
Success after Shark Tank
While it has been less than a year since Woosh Smart Air Filter aired on "Shark Tank," the company has made quick progress. Its website indicates that it beta-tested the product in San Francisco, where it is headquartered, and has since launched in the major cities of Sacramento, Dallas, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Toronto. Additionally, the company notes that beta testing allowed them to make improvements to the product.
Customers who have received the product have left numerous 5-star reviews online despite being newly launched. With a one-year warranty and free shipping, customers can purchase the Woosh Smart Air filter on its website at $149 for the filter and air quality monitor bundle, $99 for the filter and frame pair or just the monitor, and $22 for a single filter either as a one time purchase or under a monthly subscription. Filters are offered in various sizes, from as small as 12 by 24 inches to as large as 25 by 25 inches, and there is a restriction of two filters per customer per month due to limited supply. Customers also have the option to download the Woosh mobile app available on IOS and Android to better monitor and control their smart filters.
Where is Woosh Smart Air Filter today?
As a relatively new startup, Woosh and its team have a long road ahead of them, but one that is filled with commitment and optimism. CEO Winston Mok appears to be focusing on attending trade shows and enhancing the brand's marketing. Woosh Air's Instagram showed the company at the Consumer Technology Association (CES) 2023, which allows manufacturers and developers of technology to exhibit products and attend informative conferences. Along with CES, Mok suggested Woosh would be attending the SiLabs WorkWith conference in August 2023, as advertised on his LinkedIn page.
In tandem with trade show marketing, Mok is doing interviews — he recently spoke on "Harvest Growth," where he expresses continued progress in growing the company and reaching target audiences at trade shows like CES. "It was just a huge exposé for us to be able to engage with so many industry partners, and I would say Woosh was positioned a bit uniquely because, and this is just my guess, but we were targeted by many," he said. "There was just a huge number of visitors, but if I were to put my wish list of companies I wish would come talk to us, almost all of them did." Woosh Smart Air Filter is continuing to regularly hire for new positions, with applications sometimes available under the careers tab of its website, and doesn't seem to be going anywhere but up.