Blake St. Clair liked taking his dog Rummy on vacation and camping, but he disliked having to lug around all of Rummy’s food, treats and water. There had to be a better way! Blake created BarkEm’s To Go so that he and other traveling pet parents have a convenient way to feed their dogs on the road. The pre-packaged single-serving meals include a throw-away dish, vitamin-enhanced water, a treat, and a waste bag for clean-up. Rummy demonstrated by happily gobbling up the food, but he seemed more interested in the sharks and spent the rest of the pitch on Robert’s lap.
The sharks passed on BarkEm’s, because Blake was trying to solve a problem that didn’t exist or because he was asking too early—all he had was a prototype. Robert offered some advice, that Blake look for interested dog food companies. When Robert was reluctant to give up Rummy, Blake laughed and offered him 51% of the dog for $100,000. Blake and Rummy left the Tank without a deal.
Interest was so great after the episode aired that the BarkEm’s To Go website crashed. Blake was featured in a couple of newspapers and on iHeart Radio. He redesigned the package, teamed up with a dog food company, and started selling BarkEm’s on Amazon. But somewhere along the line and for unknown reasons, the company crashed. With a background in industrial design, Blake now designs packaging and develops marketing strategies for other companies’ products.
BarkEm’s is no longer in business.
