INSIDE THE TANK
Network 10’s Shark Tank returned to screens across Australia for its 6th season, which ran from 16 October to 11 December 2024. Across 8 episodes, 32 brave entrepreneurs pitched their businesses for investment to the hungry Sharks.
Moore Australia's Corporate Finance experts have analysed this season’s pitches and reveal the investment themes, dealbreakers, red flags and key learnings for Australia’s entrepreneurs.

HIGH HOPES, HEAVY DISCOUNTS
On average, the entrepreneurs valued their companies at $3.1m, breaking the record for the 2nd consecutive season of Shark Tank Australia.
It appears they took some hints from Season 5 – where the average discount of agreed deals relative to the initial ask was 55.1%. Valuations were more reasonable this season yet were still discounted by an average of 39.3%. So where did they go wrong? A few common reasons were cited for the Sharky offers:
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No market validation of demand for the business’ products or services through sales or pre orders;
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Low gross product margin which may not be able to cover overheads;
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High risk of replication from larger competitors, especially for products with no protected IP; and
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Businesses operating in highly competitive or saturated markets, increasing risk of failure.
FAIR SHARE
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Unsurprisingly, the entrepreneurs and Sharks didn’t see eye to eye on equity stakes.
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Most contestants started with modest equity offers of 10% or less.
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But Sharks don’t get out of bed for 10%. They typically wanted 11%-30% stakes for their capital, expertise and mentorship.
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For example, Founder of Vita Group, Maxine Horne, took a 50% stake in JAM, an adaptive clothing label for people with disabilities. The founders were inexperienced, and Maxine expected to spend time working in the business.
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This highlighted a trend where investor’s equity stakes is usually proportional to their strategic value-add to the business.
MASS MARKET APPEAL
A key theme of the most successful pitches in season 6 is founders that have developed a product or brand with mass-market potential.
These are products that can be effectively marketed through social media channels and therefore scale extremely quickly – gaining a first to market advantage.
Many of the Sharks such as Oodie founder Davie Fogarty, or marketing guru and serial entrepreneur Nick Bell, excel at scaling these type of businesses.
Some of these style of businesses from season 6 are below.
THE HUNGRIEST SHARK IN THE TANK
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Croatian-Canadian businessman Robert Herjavec was the hungriest Shark in the tank in Season 6, investing a total of $1.5m across 12 investments. The now Australian resident was also the biggest investor last season.
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Founder of the Oddie, Davie Fogarty, also inked 11 deals for a total value of $1.2m. His e-commerce and mentoring experience was a key attraction for the contestants when they had a selection of Sharks offering capital.
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Jane Lu, Founder and CEO of fashion retail giant ShowPo, took a selective approach, investing $385k across 8 businesses – the lowest total among the Sharks this season. Interestingly, she also demanded the largest equity stakes with an average of 21%.
LESSONS AND TAKE-HOME TIPS FOR ENTREPRENEURS
25% of proposals made in Season 6 didn’t receive an offer from any of the five Sharks.
While capital raising can be a difficult and sometimes luckless process, there are several things that founders can do to maximise their chance of getting a bite.
Drawing from Shark feedback in season 6, here are some insights for entrepreneurs to maximise their chances of raising capital. There are of course many more, but these were most important this season.
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We are a highly successful network of accounting, auditing and professional services firms. We are also part of the Moore Global Network, advising local, national and international clients in the public and private sectors. Moore Australia has offices nationwide and is constantly growing.
Our Corporate Finance team, authors of this report, offer a full suite of Lead Advisory and Transaction Support services targeting the Australian mid-market. Contact us today to find out how we can support you.