Personalized Song Startup Songlorious Wins $500,000 Deal on Shark Tank

Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Kevin O’Leary & Guest Shark Peter Jones Invest in Company

Published: Oct. 26, 2021 at 8:02 AM CDT|Updated: 18 minutes ago

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Oct. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Just 15 months after launching their personalized song company, Songlorious co-founders Ellen and Omayya Atout pitched their concept in an Oct. 15 Shark Tank appearance and accepted a $500,000 investment from four “dream mentors” they expect to send their startup into major growth mode.

The couple accepted a joint offer from Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Kevin O’Leary and guest Shark Peter Jones, each of whom have business relationships relevant to Songlorious’ business.

Songlorious is a marketplace enabling musicians to earn money by writing and recording studio-quality songs unique to each customer based on their story and genre preferences. The company has already received over 11,000 song requests, generated $2.1 million in revenues, and paid out $650,000 to 160 musical artists who have created original songs for birthdays, anniversaries, marriage proposals, prom invitations, new mothers, romantic breakups, business jingles and much more.

The Atouts started Songlorious shortly after the pandemic hit. Ellen was working as a coffeeshop barista, Omayya had an engineering job on the railroad, and the side gigs they had enjoyed as bandmates near their apartment in Brooklyn had vanished as COVID shut down music venues. They had once created a song for a friend’s wedding, so they decided to try to earn extra money by setting up a website offering to create custom songs for people. Soon they had so many requests that they engaged other musicians to help fill orders, creating a much-needed source of income for those artists as the virus continued to prevent them from performing.

Based on their early success, the couple sent a 10-minute audition to Shark Tank, nearly fell off their chairs when they were accepted, and spent hours writing a special song to convince the Sharks to back their business. “We were so nervous that we only slept 2-1/2 hours the night before the taping,” Ellen recalled.

Now living in Chattanooga, the couple was in “complete disbelief” when they received offers from all five Sharks on the episode.

The first came from Peter Jones, who previously co-owned gift experience company Red Letter Days and brought relevant technology resources to the table. The second was from Daymond John, the founder of FUBU, who noted that his strong social media presence could help drive business. Kevin O’Leary and Mark Cuban then offered a deal together, citing the synergies of O’Leary’s investment in honeymoon and cash wedding gift registry Honeyfund and Cuban’s interest in a company exploring the use of artificial intelligence to create music.

Ultimately, the Atouts accepted the $500,000 four-Shark offer in exchange for a 40% stake in the company. The couple had walked into the room hoping for a $400,000 investment with a 10% stake, but they quickly decided that the extra payout would be offset by the business knowledge and connections that all four Sharks could bring to growing the company.

“This is a game changer for Songlorious. We not only got the funding we were looking for, but we also have a dream team of four Sharks who clearly see the potential in our business,” Omayya said. “We now have both the resources and the guidance to help us reach more people, scale our operations, and do something we thought we’d never be able to do: turn our passion for music into a full-time job.”

For more information about Songlorious, visit https://www.songlorious.com

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