Metric Mate is a company which seeks to update your workout by turning weight lifting and strength-training gym equipment into SMART equipment. But will the Sharks believe that this new way of logging sets and reps for gym rats is smart enough to convince them to write a check? Read our Metric Mate Shark Tank update to find out more.
What is Metric Mate?
Metric Mate is a company which manufactures hardware and develops software which allows beginners or experts to turn any strength-training gym equipment, such as free weights and squat benches, into SMART gym equipment. The company is located in Atlanta, Georgia.
Who created Metric Mate?
Metric Mate was co-founded in Atlanta, Georgia by three partners, MT Strickland, Braxton Davis, and Ecleamus Ricks Jr. The three Metric Mate co-founders have deep academic pedigrees, with eight university degrees between them.
Metric Mate CEO MT Strickland attended both Morehouse College, where he earned a BS degree in Mathematics, and The Missouri University of Science and Technology, where he graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering. One of his first professional positions was at Clorox, where he worked as a Material Coordinator Team Lead for the company. After Clorox, MT worked at Murata as a Business Development Engineer, and then at The Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs. Prior to co-founding Metric Mate, MT was also founder and CEO of Strictly Unlimited, a brand and technology development company with divisions in Technology, Talent Development, Idea Mining, and Career Planning.
Metric Mate Chief Strategy Officer Braxton Davis first studied at Morehouse College and then The Georgia Institute of Technology, where he graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering. Braxton went on to The Georgia State University College of Law, and he earned a JD degree in Intellectual Property-Patent Law. Braxton started his professional career as an engineer at General Electric and then started to work in Patent Law when he joined AT&T as a Senior Associate in Innovation and Patent Development. Braxton was also a partner in the Law Firm, Amin, Turocy & Watson, prior to co-founding Metric Mate.
Metric Mate’s Chief Technology Officer, Ecleamus Ricks Jr., started his college education at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned a BS Degree in Electrical Engineering, and he then attended The University of Texas at Austin and obtained an MS degree in Software Engineering. Ecleamus began work in the engineering field at National Instruments, and prior to co-founding Metric Mate, he also worked as a Principal Engineering Consultant for two large consulting firms.
How did Metric Mate get started?
While not much of the Metric Mate foundation story appeared in their Shark Tank episode, when the company’s CEO, MT Strickland, sat down to an interview with the The Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs in Atlanta, he explained the genesis for the idea behind the company’s devices and software.
MT said that the idea for Metric Mate “came about with three engineers literally just trying to figure out what they had done the last time that they were in the gym.” He explained that with modern cardio equipment, such as treadmills, bikes, and other gear, the equipment records and tells the user everything about the session, but as soon as one started weight training, lifting weights, doing squats, bench presses, and leg extensions, one needed to write it all down with pen and paper.
MT explained that he and his friends viewed the weight training portion of their workouts as what really caused development and changes in the body, but he and his friends also realized that recording data from their weight training was archaic. Thus, they started to work on a way to bring technology from the 21st century into the field of weight training.
What happened to Metric Mate before Shark Tank?
As the Metric Mate team explained during their appearance in the Tank, there was little yet to report regarding the company’s sales. In addition, they couldn’t even say much about user experiences with their device or software because the company had only manufactured a total of ten functional units, and five of those were being used by personal trainers, and the remaining five of the company’s devices were sitting on the Shark Tank stage.
Before entering the Tank, the Metric Mate team had successfully filed for and obtained three patents for their devices and software, and they had made it through the prototype stage and were ready to start the manufacturing stage of the business development process; however, Metric Mate was still a very early-stage company with little to show in terms of operations when they entered the Tank.
What do customers think of Metric Mate?
As we searched online for customer reviews of Metric Mate, it quickly became obvious that the company had still not shipped many units, as there are very few customer experiences to be found. In the Mac App Store, there were ten reviews for the app portion of the Metric Mate, and the app received a 5 Star rating from 10 users.
Aside from the App Store, we found a few reviews on the company website, but these reviews were praising the concept behind the product rather than reflecting actual user experience. Finally, on the company Facebook page, we found only one review, and it was a complaint from a customer who had ordered the product but never received it.
What are customers saying about Metric Mate?
In the Mac App Store, one happy app user says, “I’m 14, and I play football, and it has been hard to record my progress without anything, but with this app, I can easily record my maxs, reps, and form. I’m looking forward to using this in the weight room.”
Another user from the App Store relates a positive experience with the app, “This app is awesome. I used to carry a pen and pad to the gym, totally cumbersome and would get me out of my workout groove to write down info. With Metric Mate, I don’t have to stop my routine to keep up with my reps, sets, and weights. This app is the future of training!”
Over on the company Facebook page, there is only one product review, and it is in the form of a complaint that the customer ordered the product, but still had not received it after waiting for months: “I ordered Metric Mate in January 2023 after seeing it on the Shark Tank. When I didn’t get it by May, I started a dispute with my credit card company to get my money back. When Metric Mate saw that, they emailed me and sounded very nice. Said there was a little bit of a delay, and they would send me a T-shirt for my grandson, so I made the big mistake of canceling the dispute. I have tried several times to get through to them and never have any of my emails answered. This was supposed to be a birthday gift for my grandson, and then I decided I could wait and give it to him at Christmas. Well as of today, no product, and I’m out the money. I just want everybody to know so they don’t fall into the same trap I did.”
When did Metric Mate appear on Shark Tank?
Metric Mate appeared on Shark Tank in Season 14, Episode 11, which aired on January 13, 2023. The company pitched to Sharks Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, and Guest Shark Tony Xu, founder and CEO of DoorDash.
Metric Mate appeared in Season 14 of Shark Tank, which featured a number of interesting, successful pitches, including ChessUp, a new way to both learn to play chess and to improve your game.
What happened to Metric Mate on Shark Tank?
Metric Mate co-founders MT Strickland, Braxton Davis, and Ecleamus Ricks Jr. entered the Tank to ask the Sharks for a $100k investment in return for 5% equity in their company.
The Metric Mate founders looked ready to start their pitch on the platform, where there was a stage full of gym equipment, when Braxton Davis looked at his partners and said, “Hey guys, this is pretty tense, I think I’m gonna get some reps in here.”
Braxton then walked over the weight equipment while Ecleamus explained that they were flashing back a few years to when Braxton would be in the gym with a pen and paper, trying to write down his exercises and his reps. And apparently, Braxton couldn’t find his papers from his last workout, so he was guessing about what he should do today. Ecleamus exclaimed about this situation, “Come on, pen and paper, great idea if it was 1962.”
Co-founder MT Strickland then told the Sharks that they had a patented platform which turns any gym equipment into SMART equipment. Ecleamus continued by saying that the Metric Mate would not only track reps and sets, but it also provides information like calorie burn, intensity, force, and fatigue. The Metric Mate team next informed the Sharks that all of the information could be shared with a personal trainer, coach, or physical therapist.
Mark Cuban volunteered to go up and try a few solar presses to demonstrate the Metric Mate, and after his short demonstration was complete, the machine said, “Mark, set complete, but that was really lackluster, are you sure you’re really a Shark?” Of course, the other Sharks had a good laugh at this.
Guest Shark Tony Xu, CEO and founder of DoorDash, spoke first as he confirmed, “so there’s a device that goes on the equipment and an app that you guys are building?” Ecleamus told him that yes, they have a device and an app, and no other equipment has a data collection device like the Metric Mate.
Mark Cuban liked the idea that he could take the Metric Mate along while traveling and still be able to record workout data when he was away from home. Tony Xu also spoke up again and asked the Metric Mate team if they had engineering backgrounds, or if they were just gym rats, and he learned that the three founders have 8 college degrees between them.
Next, there was some detailed discussion of how the Metric Mate device records data about an actual workout, what one does on the weight-training equipment, while biometric data is usually collected by a wearable device which does not record the reps or sets in a workout. The Metric Mate team told the Sharks that their focus was on combining the Metric Mate data with biometrics from wearable devices to produce a holistic picture so that personal trainers could provide unparalleled services.
Kevin O’Leary appeared to be unhappy about the company’s focus on personal trainers, as he said, “I work at the gym at every station. I want this. Why do I have to have a trainer involved?” Ecleamus explained to Mr. Wonderful that this was one reason that they were in the Tank; the company did not have the funding to go direct-to-consumer, and this is the reason that they were focusing on personal trainers.
The Sharks next learned that the Metric Mate cost $99 to produce, and they were selling the device for $199. MT also revealed that the company had only produced a total of 10 units thus far, and five of them had been shipped to personal trainers while the other five were sitting on the Shark Tank Stage.
Lor Greiner also seemed very surprised that the Metric Mate was not available to the general public on the company website. And MT told her that they had preorders available, but he was not clear about when these products would be produced and shipped. He also said that they were waiting on five government certifications, which were very expensive, but needed to be in place to sell the device in retail.
After learning that Metric Mate had only produced 10 units to date, and that the product was not available direct-to-consumer, most of the Sharks appeared ready to swim out to open water.
Did Metric Mate get a deal on Shark Tank?
Metric Mate did have an offer but was unable to successfully negotiate a deal in the Tank, so they left without a Shark partner.
Lori Greiner announced her position first, as she told the Metric Mate team that she really wished that they had simplified it and made it for consumers; she also stated that she was not much of a gym queen, so she quickly went out.
Barbara Corcoran quickly followed Lori to the exit, as she believed that she didn’t know yet if the consumer would like the product. Tony Xu next declared that while he would try the product for himself, he thought that they really needed to get the product into the hands of consumers, and that, for now, it was too early in the process for him to invest.
Kevin O’Leary next explained that he had an investment in PRX, and that the company had sold millions of dollars worth of gym equipment. He said that the company had been very successful and that they were building their own plant to manufacture the equipment because the supply chain was broken. O’Leary said that they could really take advantage of his PRX investment, so he made a Sharky offer of $100k for 25% of the business.
After this offer, Lori Greiner looked at Mr. Wonderful and said, “Kevin, you savage.”
There were a number of counter offers from the Metric Mate team, but O’Leary was not moving from his original offer. Finally, Mark Cuban broke in and said, “Kevin is very direct, if there was wiggle room, he would be wiggling.” Cuban also asked the Metric Mate guys to think about where they will be in a year both with a deal with O’Leary and without one. He then said, “Even though you may feel the pain because of all you’ve done to get this far, 75% of a watermelon is a whole lot better than 100% of a grape.”
At this point, O’Leary said, “The offer I made was for $100k for 25%, you either accept it or you don’t.” Ecleamus then thanked the Sharks for the opportunity, and the Metric Mate team of engineering gym rats left the Tank without a deal.
Metric Mate Shark Tank update, what happened to Metric Mate after Shark Tank?
Even without a deal in the Tank Metric Mate co-founder MT Strickland acknowledged a Shark Tank effect. Strickland said, “Pitching at Shark Tank brought not only new cash flow, new pre-orders, and a new community, but also new investors to the table.”
After they taped their Shark Tank episode, the Metric Mate team had already decided that finding new investors would be a priority for the company. It appears that they are trying to implement Lori Greiner’s advice and market their product not only to businesses, but directly to consumers as well.
Metric Mate opened an Indigogo funding campaign after taping their Shark Tank episode, and unfortunately, the company fell far short of their funding goal. While they were seeking $100,000 on the Indiegogo platform, their campaign managed to attract only $1915 of new investment.
Also, on the Metric Mate website, the company advertises that they are “Shpping Now!” However, the site also states that one must allow 6-8 weeks for shipment to arrive; thus, it appears that they still do not have inventory in stock to ship current orders.
While co-founder MT Strickland appeared to be confident after Metric Mate’s episode aired, at this point, without a Shark on board, a second failed fundraising attempt, and the appearance that the company may not have sufficient inventory to process direct-to-consumer orders, it seems that Metric Mate still has a long way to go to achieve sustainability, much less significant growth of the business.