Calling all gear entrepreneurs!
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TV show, Adventure Capitalists, launches its search for the next hot piece of gear.
If you think you’ve got the next big thing in outdoor gear—like a cartop tent, tree-hanging surfboard or foldable kayak—or if you know some one who does, listen up.
CNBC’s Adventure Capitalists is looking for the dirtbag entrepreneurs to help them prove it in the second season of their Shark Tank-meets-the-outdoor-industry television show.
The show is on the hunt for inventors of outdoor recreation, adventure and survival products ready to be put to the test. On screen, a panel of three industry insiders and investors hear the inventor’s pitch, then try out their products right where they were designed to be used. Unlike ABC’s Shark Tank, Adventure Capitalists takes place entirely outdoors. Last season, hosts and entrepreneurs met up in the Sierra Nevadas, the Redwood Forests, the Mojave Desert and the waters off the Bahamas to demo products before negotiating (or not) for an investment.
According to the new season’s casting team, the best products are ready to be played with and tested outdoors, are innovative and different than anything else on the market today, and need to be fun and entertaining to watch. Most contestants are typically somewhat established, but just need that extra push in terms of funding and recognition to get over the hump.
Investors Craig Cooper, Jeremy Bloom and Dhani Jones have already run the gamut of products. During the first season, which just wrapped up with four one-hour-long episodes, they checked out an adaptor kit to motorize stand-up paddleboards, tent designs by SlingFin, an acoustic shark repellant, a James Bond-style underwater jetpack, innovative running vests, a backpack/hand cart combination and more.
Prior to the first season, producers spent time sleuthing around trade shows and talking to industry experts to locate products worth the spotlight, but this year, wanna-be entrepreneurs (13-years or older and a U.S. citizen) can apply to be cast on the show by filling out the form at http://www.adventurecapitalists.com/.
