We all make mistakes from time to time. It’s a part of the human experience.
But it’s not every day that we lose out on a major investment opportunity because of it.
Back in 2013, Jamie Siminoff went on entrepreneurial investment reality show Shark Tank and pitched his idea for a video doorbell with his company, then called DoorBot, said Forbes. At the time, Siminoff walked away empty-handed.
But you know what they say about closing doors. Moving forward to today, Siminoff’s company is now called Ring. And Ring just closed a serious funding round.
In January, Ring closed a $109 million Series D venture funding round led by DFJ Growth, Goldman Sachs and Qualcomm Ventures. All told, Ring has managed to raise some $209.2 million in six funding rounds since becoming a Shark Tank reject, also scoring investments from Kleiner Perkins, First Round, Richard Branson, American Family Insurance, Amazon Alexa Fund and Shea Ventures, among others.
Since leaving Shark Tank, Siminoff has redesigned and grown his startup’s offerings to encompass a wider range of wireless security features.
Today, Ring offers wireless, connected video doorbells that connect to users’ smartphones, allowing them to access doorbell footage from anywhere in the world. Ring also offers customers wireless security cameras and video recording capabilities.
Siminoff was quoted as saying in an interview with Forbes, “We are creating a ‘neighborhood watch for the digital age,’ a proactive solution homeowners can use to protect their homes and families. All of our products are built with the idea of ‘Always Home,’ which is our customer promise. Whether you are in the back bedroom or halfway around the world, our products make you feel like you are right there in the home. More importantly, the visitor interacting with you through the product also feels that you are in the home.”