Candi is a unique social media platform that connects people with influencers and celebrities. It is essentially a social media platform. Keithan and Quaiante Hendrick sought a way to fund their social media platform. Influencers and celebrities are all the rage nowadays, so brands constantly try to connect with them. The premise of Candi was to connect brands to celebrities and influencers.
The way that Candi works is relatively simple. You go to the social media website that has already been set up for Candi. You will then pick one of the celebrities or influencers, and the Candi team will unite you with the celebrity using a Zoom link.
It’s essentially like any dating website, except you do all the swiping, and the other person doesn’t pick you. The calls also don’t last too long. You’re only given 5 minutes to connect with the celebrity or influencer, after which you can decide if you want to go through with the deal or if you want to keep looking.
What sets the social media platform apart is that they’re not running on the premise of connecting with everyone. There’s exclusivity to the kind of people who are let into the social media platform, Candi. Thus, this helps the social media platform stand out. If everyone were just let in, there would be a significant issue in authentication, etc. Also, not everyone can be a social media influencer or a celebrity, so the platform helps you identify your target.
The website and the company are still active; however, the COVID-19 pandemic severely affected them, which is something you can see. Now that we know what the company is like, we can talk about how the Shark Tank Pitch went.
The two entrepreneurs entered the tank and asked for $500,000 for 15% of the equity. They then explained the business and how it all worked. We have mentioned much of this above. The company launched in the middle of the pandemic. They found in April 2020 and managed to garner $100,000. The celebrity generally keeps 75% of their rate, and 25% is paid to the platform for its services. There is a wide variety of celebrities on Candi’s roster. There are celebrities whose rates go down to $10, and then there are those who go up $400 for those 5 minutes. Chaka Khan is one of the most highly valued celebrities here.
The pitch mainly focused on the functioning of the social media platform. However, after a while, Keithan came clean about his past and that his mother abandoned him. He explained to the judges how he had to care for everything himself. He adopted his 14 and 15-year-old brothers. He also talked a bit about his background and told the judges he was a Mergers and Acquisitions attorney. He attested to the fact that he and Quiante came up with the idea all on their own. He explained how they had the idea but didn’t have the app and needed the money to build it. They also would have to build a marketing team and hire phone salespeople to get the word out there.
Kevin took the podium to say that all of this has been done before in some variation, and it tends to falter because the talent decreases over a period. They say they want a Shark to ignite the spark so something can get going. Kevin Hart chimed in and said that he thought it was too early in the company’s cards to gather an investor right now. They should grow, and eventually, they could add more investments to it; he was out. Mark Cuban thought they were asking for too much money and wanted to bow out. Mr. Wonderful also has the same opinion, and he, too, wanted to leave. Lori and Barbara also agreed that the money they were asking for was too much, and they could not invest.
Our Review of Candi
There are all kinds of products that come in Shark Tank. These products have both good and bad, which we will look at today.
Pros of Candi
- It’s unique. We have yet to see a social media platform connecting brands with influencers and celebrities.
- The model seems viable. The product builds on models like dating websites, which means it is more likely to stand the test of time.
- There are notable celebrities connected to the site. After the episode’s launch, the company could add a link that allowed stars to link the website to their social media sites, which meant that the company could get even more publicity.
Cons of Candi
- There’s no app. The major problem is that the lack of the app causes a significant problem with accessibility that could reduce the popularity of the app.
Who is Candi For?
Candi is for all those people and brands who want to get in touch with celebrities and social media influencers. If there are companies who want to promote and market their brand in a better way, then Candi is the app for them. Furthermore, it’s also for all the celebrities who want to garner more influence and want to see their charges as such.
Are There any Other Alternatives to Candi?
There aren’t any direct alternatives to Candi. You have to understand that by this, we mean there’s no website you could log into and call a celebrity. However, some social media platforms let you connect with influencers and celebrities to promote your business. One of the major social media platforms like this is Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. All of which use celebrity partnerships to get their word out there.
Final Thoughts
Candi is quite a relevant website, given the many problems with influencers nowadays. However, Candi as a product has still not progressed to the part that the Sharks or any investors would want to invest in it. Thus, only time will tell how successful the company finally gets. The idea is quite solid, and they might be successful if they can add capital.
