Product Update
Is Hele Outdoors Still in Business? (2026 Update)
Is Hele Outdoors from Shark Tank still around in 2026? The deal it made, the sharks who invested, and where to buy Hele Outdoors today.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Hele Outdoors pitched a car camping platform system, essentially a modular sleeping and storage deck that turns the back of a vehicle into a van-life setup without owning an actual van, and Barbara Corcoran bit in Season 17. This is one of the newer companies in this database, and the early evidence points to a real, functioning business rather than a pitch that quietly disappeared.
The Short Answer
Hele Outdoors is still in business. The company sells directly through its own Shopify-based site, heleoutdoors.com, with two core products, the Hele Box Solo and Hele Box Duo sleeping platforms, plus bundles and add-ons for car camping setups.
What stands out for a company this new is the outside press it has already picked up beyond the Shark Tank exposure itself. The site cites coverage from Gear Junkie, Outside Magazine, and Overland Expo, three genuinely respected names in the outdoor gear world that do not typically cover products without some level of real market traction to justify the attention. Overland Expo in particular is a trade-show and enthusiast community built around exactly the overlanding and van-life crowd this product targets, and getting noticed there is a more meaningful signal of product-market fit than general consumer press would be.
The Shark Tank Pitch
Hele Outdoors appeared in Season 17, Episode 15, pitched in the Sports and Outdoors category. No city or state is listed for the founders in the show's records, which is common for more recent episodes. The founders asked for 75,000 dollars in exchange for 5 percent of the company, valuing the business at 1.5 million dollars on the ask, an aggressive valuation for a young hardware product still building distribution.
The Deal That Got Done
Barbara Corcoran made the deal, agreeing to the full 75,000 dollars asked for but taking 12.5 percent of the company instead of the 5 percent on the table, more than doubling her equity stake compared to the ask. That brings the post-deal valuation down to roughly 600,000 dollars, a real discount from the founders' initial 1.5 million dollar pitch.
Corcoran's track record backing physical, direct-to-consumer product companies made her a sensible fit here, and the site's own messaging includes a customer line calling the product van-life in a box, exactly the kind of consumer positioning Corcoran tends to gravitate toward. She has built a reputation on this show for finding home and lifestyle products with strong emotional hooks rather than the most sophisticated technology in the room, and a car camping platform that promises the freedom of van life without the cost of an actual van fits that pattern closely.
Hele Outdoors net worth in 2026
There is no independently verified net worth or revenue figure for Hele Outdoors available publicly, which is unsurprising given how recently the company appeared on the show. The only grounded number available is the roughly 600,000 dollar post-deal valuation implied by Corcoran's investment terms at the time of the pitch. The company's press coverage from Gear Junkie, Outside Magazine, and Overland Expo suggests real momentum in the outdoor gear press since then, but none of those pieces published a specific updated valuation, so this article is not going to manufacture one.
Where Things Stand Now
Hele Outdoors pitched in Season 17, asking for 75,000 dollars for 5 percent, and closed with Barbara Corcoran at the same 75,000 dollars for 12.5 percent instead, roughly halving the founders' implied valuation. The company sells its Hele Box Solo and Duo platforms directly through its own site and has already picked up coverage from three notable outdoor industry publications.
For a product this recent, the combination of an active storefront and outside press attention beyond the Shark Tank episode itself is a good early sign. If you're checking whether Hele Outdoors made it past its television debut, the evidence available says yes, though it is still early enough that long-term staying power has not been proven the way it has for older Shark Tank brands. The next few years, and whether the company can turn early gear-press attention into repeat sales once the Shark Tank exposure fades, will be the real test, and it is a test a lot of Season 17 companies are still in the middle of taking.
Where to buy Hele Outdoors
Still selling as of March 22, 2026. Check today's price and availability.
Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
See the full Hele Outdoors deal breakdown and term sheet →
