He turned his million dollar idea into a multi-million dollar business, producing $500 million dollars worth of sales for his ecommerce brand in just five years. And now Oodie creator Davie Fogarty’s on a mission to help others find similar success.
The 28 year-old Adelaide-based entrepreneur has signed on as a ‘Shark’ in the new series of Shark Tank, which sees would-be-entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to a panel of investors, prepared to use their own cash to invest in other people’s pipe-dreams.
Joining Fograrty on this panel is marketing guru Sabri Suby, A.I expert Dr. Catriona Wallace, fashion ecommerce specialist Jane Lu and US Shark Tank star and multi-millionaire entrepreneur, Robert Herjavec — they’re all experts in their field.
“I’m very passionate about Australian entrepreneurship,” says Fogarty, who is speaking to Today ahead of the launch of the latest season.
“Anything I can do to inspire and invest in young Australian entrepreneurs investing in ecommerce, I’m going to take.”
Fogarty says he’s particularly excited about starring alongside Herjavec, someone he’s long looked up to.
“I grew up watching Shark Tank — I watched Robert Herjavec when I was in school, so to be part of this with him is a huge dream come true,” he explains.
Before finding success with The Oodie, the wearable blanket company now estimated to be worth $250 million, Fogarty admits he tried — and failed — to launch a number of businesses.
Would he have attempted to launch any of them via a show like Shark Tank?
“Pitching, when I was just starting out — I don’t know if I would have had the confidence or the know-how, to be honest,” he explains.
If you’d like to view this content, please adjust your .
To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide.
“Which is a testament to all of the entrepreneurs that pitched and did an amazing job (on Shark Tank).
“But yeah, I think I would have been shaking up there on the stage!”
Though he can’t talk about any of the ideas that cross his path this season, a recent trailer shows Fogarty willing to part with half a million dollars worth of his own money for someone’s business.
Can he let us know what he ended up investing in?
“I probably can’t talk to you about any of the actual pitches, although I would love to,” he says. “You’re just going to have to tune into Ten!”
It’s hard to underestimate just how successful The Oodie has been, becoming THE accessory of choice for many during Australia’s brutal lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.
These days there are many copy-cats, and surely he must be feeling the sting?
“This is business,” he says matter-of-factly.
“You need to innovate and create new products that really make your customers happy.
“The reason why capitalism is beautiful is that people will keep reinventing products to drive more value to the customer, and drive costs down for the customer.
“I don’t complain about how the game is played, I just play it as best as I can.
“The only thing that frustrates me is that there are blatant counterfeits that steal all our IP (intellectual property), such as our designs, our Logo, or our URLs, and then ship directly to the customers. And that is obviously illegal!”
As for those million dollar ideas, he says he still has plenty left in him.
“It’s just about finding the time for them,” he explains. “At the moment, I’m focusing on my program called Daily Mentor, where I am mentoring million dollar ideas — I’m going to try to get them to ten million dollars in revenue.”
It’s occupying his time. And as Fogarty admits, between his business ventures, Shark Tank and his mentoring he has little time for hobbies or other interests.
Though he could live anywhere in the world, the young entrepreneur still bases himself in Adelaide, and says he feels “very lucky” to live in the laid-back State.
“I tried living in Melbourne for a year, but I really grew to appreciate what I have here in South Australia,” he explains. “I have amazing friends, an amazing family and an amazing partner in South Australia, and I feel very lucky to have that.
“I think SA is great, the cost of living is lower and it’s a great place to start a new business.”