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Loudoun’s GloveStix Scores Investment on ‘Shark Tank’

Brian Tinsman
Digital Properties Manager

 

Loudoun County entrepreneur Krista Woods swam with the sharks on ABC’s Shark Tank and came out a winner, scoring $150,000 in investment for her GloveStix company.

GloveStix was inspired by Woods’ experience as a lacrosse mom, shuttling her teenage boys and teammates to practice and games. The equipment, particularly the gloves and cleats, are a breeding ground for stink-inducing bacteria.

She launched the company in Loudoun County and has grown it very quickly through her patented technology, which eliminates 99.9 percent of odor-causing bacteria.

Woods entered the Shark Tank show seeking $150,000 in capital for 10 percent equity in her company. She ended up partnering with Shark regular Lori Greiner and retired Major League Baseball star Alex Rodriguez for 17.5 percent.

She told the Sharks that she intends to use the capital investment to grow her sales team.

This is the second major television spotlight for Woods and GloveStix, which was featured on the Today Show in April 2016, winner of the NBC show’s “Next Big Thing” contest.

After winning the “Next Big Thing” contest, Woods appeared on QVC and sold out of her product, filling 2.5 times as many orders in eight minutes as she had in the preceding eight months.

“It’s so much faster than I ever dreamed,” Woods told the Washington Business Journal in April 2016. “So now I’ve got to jump on this train and make a bigger plan.”

By January 2017, a year after winning the Today Show contest, Woods’ GloveStix were a best-seller on Amazon and she had created an automatic subscription service and tripled the number of wholesalers she worked with.

In the 18 months since her appearance on that show, Woods told the Sharks that she has produced more than $500,000 in sales. The investment should help her scale operations and alleviate some of the growing pains, allowing her to continue to be a Loudoun County success story.