Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary Invests Six Figures into Cryptocurrency App Bundil

Shark Tank’ Kevin O’Leary has invested $100,000 into Bundil, a mobile app that lets people turn their spare change into cryptocurrencies, CNBC reported on October 23, 2018.

Bundil Makes a Deal with Kevin O’Leary

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are slowly finding their way into mainstream media, with the latest episode of Shark Tank seeing a six-figure investment in a cryptocurrency app. On the October 21, 2018, episode of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” a self-taught crypto entrepreneur got the backing of traditional investors and got one of the judges to invest in the company.

Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary offered Bundil, an app that allows users to invest in cryptocurrencies on a micro level, $100,000 for a 50 percent stake in the company.

The founder of Bundil is Dmitri Love, a biochemistry student at the University of Arkansas whose serious knee injury led him to become a software engineer. The inspiration for Bundil struck during Love’s lengthy recovery after he saw his friends and family struggling to invest in digital currencies.

“Anyone that’s trying to invest in cryptocurrency has to go through all these steps to try to figure out how to buy it. And I thought there could be an easier way for it to be done,” Love said during the Sunday show.

Dmitri Love presenting the Bundil app on Shark Tank

(Source: CNBC)

What is Bundil?

According to CNBC, Bundil is an app that allows consumers to automatically invest spare change from credit or debit card purchases into various forms of cryptocurrency, including bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and bitcoin cash. The platform rounds up everyday transactions to the nearest dollar and then invests the resulting spare change into crypto.

According to the company’s website, Bundil is a subscription-based app, charging $3 a month and $24 a year for membership.

The main point of concerns for Shark Tank’s investors was the lack of stability in the cryptocurrency market. Kevin O’Leary pointed out that up to 80 percent of micro-investment companies fail within three years due to volatility.

Lori Greiner wasn’t sold on the idea of cryptocurrency in general, while Daymond John cited the volatility of the digital space as his primary concern. Guest judge Matt Higgins, CEO of RSE Ventures, also opted out, and Mark Cuban has already invested in a similar company.

Back in 2017, Cuban invested $250,000 in an app called ChangED. The monthly membership app allows users to pay off their student loans with digital spare change. Just like Bundil, ChangED rounds up users’ credit card transactions to the nearest dollar and uses the spare change to help users manage their loans more effectively.

In August 2017, the app had already exceeded $1 million in sales and helped pay off $1 million of its users’ loans.