Black Founders Secure $300K Investment From Shark Tank Billionaires For Their AI Startup, Bot-It

Billionaires Mark Cuban and Michael Rubin agreed to invest $300,000 in Black-owned AI startup Bot-It, on a recent episode of ABC’s Shark Tank.

Founded by Maurice Bachelor and Joel Griffith, Bot-It lets users automate online tasks like booking appointments, making restaurant reservations, and even securing concert tickets.

Bot-It

Bot-It is a new service that introduces web automation to everyday people without requiring any coding or technical skills to set up.

Bachelor conceived the idea after seeing a friend struggle with completing an online task, and after searching the internet for a solution, he realized there was a gap in the market.

“I wanted to build an affordable web and mobile application where you could simply tell the system what website you want to automate, and the system would handle the rest,” he told Eqvista. “That is how Bot-It was born.”

To use the platform, users open the website where they plan to create a bot. Then, they switch back and forth from the website to Bot-It to tell the bot exactly which actions to perform.

Users can create a bot for $9.99 monthly to complete tasks such as booking appointments and securing dinner reservations.

Bachelor also said the platform’s unique tools, powered by AI, can create custom automation timing techniques to ensure they can lead the race against other bots and dibs on canceled reservations.

According to CNBC, users can also select the pro subscription, valued at $99 per year, which allows them to move ahead of the lines for sneaker releases and secure concert tickets in seconds.

Shark Tank Investments

In October 2023, the duo pitched their platform on American business reality television series Shark Tank.

They were seeking a $150,000 investment in exchange for 10% of their business.

Billionaire Mark Cuban offered $150,000 for 20% equity, and Michael Rubin offered $50,000 for 15% of Bot-It.

Ultimately, the billionaires agreed to invest $300,000 in exchange for a 30% stake in the company.

“This is the most important day of the Bot-It life,” Bachelor told CNBC. “To have both of those Sharks on our team right now is going to take us to the next level.”