Mark Cuban is the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and now he is a ten percent owner of drone training company, DARTdrones. On Friday’s episode of SharkTank, Cuban was quick to accept CEO Abby Speicher’s pitch and terms – $300,000 for 10% ownership.
Cuban, a regular on SharkTank made his fortune in the early days of the internet. Founding Audionet which later became Broadcast.com, Cuban sold it to Yahoo! for nearly six billion dollars. Since that time, Cuban has been an active investor in the technology sector.
Speicher started DARTdrones while earning an MBA in Entrepreneurship at Babson College in 2015. Her dad, Chris Speicher is listed on their site as the Chief Visionary Officer (and an educator in entrepreneurship).
DARTdrones is the national leader in drone training, consultation, and expert support for new drone pilots. Our mission is to provide the highest quality training on Unmanned Aerial Systems to ensure the safe integration of drones into the national airspace.
We believe that drones are going to change the world, and we want to help the FAA implement this amazing technology by promoting safety, comprehensive understanding of the equipment, and knowledge of the current regulations. We pride ourselves on our friendly, knowledgeable, and expert flight instructors who offer a variety of experience in the aviation industry. We are an exciting team based in Scranton, PA offering training courses throughout the United States.
Abby told the Sharks that DARTdrones had generated over $500,000 in sales in 2016 and projected 2017 sales to hit the million dollar mark. She said that the new capital would be applied to expanded curriculum development. Cuban, who is considered to be an expert in investment timing, apparently feels that he has found the right company at the right time.
DARTdrones is not the first drone company to raise money on the popular show. XCraft raised 1.5 million in late 2015 from the five sharks.
Alan is serial entrepreneur, active angel investor, and a drone enthusiast. He co-founded DRONELIFE.com to address the emerging commercial market for drones and drone technology. Prior to DRONELIFE.com, Alan co-founded Where.com, ThinkingScreen Media, and Nurse.com. Recently, Alan has co-founded Crowditz.com, a leader in Equity Crowdfunding Data, Analytics, and Insights. Alan can be reached at alan(at)dronelife.com