Whatever Happened To TOOR – Key Lockbox And Real Estate App After Shark Tank Season 8?
In 2016, Junior Desinor brought his lockbox, TOOR, to Shark Tank Season 8, Episode 8. Desinor, who had been working in real estate for years, designed TOOR so that scheduling house viewings would be easier for both buyers and sellers. The lockbox is controlled by the TOOR app, which connects buyers and sellers. Once they have gotten in touch, the seller can give access to the buyer to open the lockbox through the app and view the home without having to waste time calling agents or waiting for open houses.
TOOR's box uses Bluetooth to remotely open and close, allowing only the scheduled buyer to open the box with the keys at a set time. If a seller is unsure of having strangers in their home unsupervised, they have the option to require that an agent accompany the buyer. The app can quickly find a nearby agent and allows the user to search for properties as well.
What happened to TOOR on Shark Tank?
Junior Desinor walked into the tank with a big ask for his small company. The founder was looking for $500,000 in exchange for 10% equity in his company, which had a $5 million valuation. Despite the high valuation, TOOR had not sold a single product before appearing on the show. The company was still in its developmental stages but had launched a Kickstarter campaign which had raised $100,000 in pre-orders.
While the sharks were impressed by Desinor's sales pitch, they weren't all sure about the product. Chris Sacca, a guest shark on the show, argued with Desinor and the other Sharks that similar products were already on the market. Despite the discrepancy, Kevin O'Leary and Barbara Corcoran offered TOOR's founder $200K for 10% of the company and a $300K loan with 18% interest. Desinor took the deal and was excited to work with O'Leary and Corcoran. "It was brutal in there," Desinor said as he walked out of the tank. "But I'm super thrilled about my partners and I'm ready to get to work."
TOOR after Shark Tank
While TOOR saw some success after "Shark Tank," it turns out that Desinor's deal with Kevin O'Leary and Barabara Corcoran never closed. Because TOOR's product was not on the market at the time its episode aired, the company gained only exposure rather than an uptick in sales, like most products that appear on "Shark Tank." Junior Desinor left the tank with a deal from two Sharks, but it took TOOR two years before its lockboxes were ready for consumers. The company finally started shipping out preorders and advertising their product in March of 2018. About a month after releasing its initial product, TOOR partnered with Touch of Modern, which sells unique products to members.
Later that year, the company also started working with Umber Realty Inc., a Canadian real estate company, and JP and Associates Realtors. TOOR began selling their lockboxes on their website as well as on Amazon.
TOOR disappears after the launch of their product
Despite these promising opportunities, TOOR seemed to fall off the map. The company stopped updating its Facebook in early September of 2018, just six months after the release of its smart lockboxes. While their Amazon page remains online, the product is listed as currently unavailable and has no reviews. When trying to access the company's website, a warning appears, stating that the connection is not secure and the website seems to be down.
Though TOOR had an extremely promising pitch and deal on "Shark Tank," Desinor's company doesn't seem like it ever fully got off the ground. TOOR's product was interesting, but it had to compete against many other types of lockboxes already on the market and didn't last. The company's Kickstarter page is still online, but there have been no updates since January of 2018, when TOOR announced that its first lockboxes would be released soon.
What's next for TOOR's founder?
Junior Desinor's lockbox company went out of business, but the founder continues working with real estate and investment opportunities. Desinor has invested in several businesses, including Balloon Therapy, which creates garlands out of balloons, and City Naturals, a wellness and CBD store he founded with his wife. In 2023, the founder of TOOR explained his latest venture, Good Capital Partners, to OK Magazine.
Good Capital Partners brings investors into a unique hotel market, with exclusive properties that are hard to get ahold of. "We arbitrage the rental programs offered by developers and hotel operations to aggressively cashflow our trophy properties, generating impressive returns for our investors," Desinor told OK Magazine. "The unique investment opportunity is often kept in a very small circle. We partner with developers, brokers, and hotel chains to make sure our pipeline for these unique properties is available to our investors." Though TOOR has gone out of business, it's clear that Desinor continues to see success in his other pursuits.