SunScreenr Update: What happened to Dave and Jon’s business after Shark Tank?

In 2016, Shark Tank episode 805 featured Dave Cohen with his unique product, SunScreenr. At the time in season 8, David Cohen served as the co-founder and CEO, alongside Jon Meyer.

Before Shark Tank, Dave ran several other campaigns and earned significant amounts to get his product started. However, no product shipping or deliveries were carried out until late 2016. Various user reviews on their official Instagram account from 2019 state they didn't receive the product and demand a refund.

The product's Kickstarter page still shows an estimated delivery time of August 2016. The campaign has been idle for a long time. Moreover, their official website, sunscreenr.com, is not working.

For the unversed, SunScreenr is a device that looks like a tiny camera. After applying sunscreen to the user's body, the device shows missed spots where more sunscreen is required.

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SunScreenr's journey on Shark Tank

On Shark Tank season 8, Dave Cohen introduced an innovative product: SunScreenr. It is a camera-like small device that points to skin or hair with sunscreen to show darker skin. Areas where sunscreen has not been adequately used appear light, suggesting the user to apply more.

According to Cohen, he got this unique idea to develop the product after his family members were affected by skin cancer. In a 2016 The Dermatologist interview, Dave and Jon explained the product:

"We designed SunScreenr to protect our own families. Each of us has watched family members struggle with skin cancer. We wanted to create a way to better protect our children and ourselves from sun damage."

SunScreenr Update (Image via Instagram/ @sunscreenr123)

Sharks, including Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec, and Lori Greiner were present during SunScreenr presentation. Entrepreneur Cohen’s offer was for $800,000 in exchange for 10% equity. He also shared details about his additional campaigns, where he crowd-funded over $270,000.

However, due to UV camera challenges, he wasn’t yet able to ship any of the products. Sharks did not seem to like that he couldn’t produce or ship products even after receiving the amount.

Mark Cuban was the first to drop out, followed by Herjavec. However, O’Leary was interested and presented Cohen with a counteroffer: $800,000 for 33.3% of the company. Later, Greiner backed out, and Cohen had one offer from O’Leary. He tried negotiating the deal, but Shark was only interested in this offer. Ultimately, Cohen agreed. Despite obtaining a deal from judge O’Leary, Cohen started fundraising.

The Kickstarter page of SunScreenr is still active even after their Shark Tank deal. It currently shows $119,626 raised from 1,319 investors. The product decsription on the platform reads:

“SunScreenr shows you where you've missed a spot when applying sunscreen AND where sunscreen has worn off your skin even after sweating, swimming, or toweling off.”

On one of their campaigns on Kickstarter.com, the company claims:

"There are 1 Million cases of skin cancer per year in the US alone, but sunscreen can significantly reduce your chances of getting cancer. Unfortunately, most people only apply 25% to 50% of the sunscreen they should. That's where SunScreenr comes in."

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SunScreenr after Shark Tank appearance

In 2016, Cohen shared that their product faced even more delays after its Shark Tank appearance. Later, by 2018, initial products started to ship out to pre-orders. SunScreenr got quite the attention and was active at various events, social media gatherings, and more.

Currently, the product's official website, Instagram, and X pages seem idle. Their last update was in 2019.

According to Dave's LinkedIn, he is no longer part of the startup. From 2015 to 2022, he was CEO and Founder of Voxelight, Sunscreenr's parent company. Meawhile, Jon Meyer's LinkedIn profile also does not associate him with this firm. He has been CAPTRUST's chief technology officer since 2016.