Product Update
Is Makers Social Still in Business? (2026 Update)
Is Makers Social from Shark Tank still around in 2026? The deal it made, the sharks who invested, and where to buy Makers Social today.
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Megan Pando built Makers Social as Columbus, Ohio's first DIY project bar, a place where you pour a cocktail and then pour resin into a mold at the next table over. Kevin O'Leary bought in for a bigger slice than she originally offered, and the physical venue behind the pitch is still open and pouring both drinks and concrete.
The Short Answer
Yes. Makers Social is still in business, operating out of its original 1,800-square-foot location at 461 West Rich Street in Columbus, with current hours posted, an active reservation system, and expansion plans in motion for a second location.
This is a physical, in-person venue rather than a shippable product, so still in business here means the doors are open and the calendar is booking, which by every available signal it is.
The Shark Tank Pitch
Makers Social pitched in Season 17, Episode 9, built around a business Megan Pando started in Columbus in 2020, a genuinely difficult year to open a venue built on in-person, hands-on experiences, offering more than 30 different DIY craft projects, from jewelry making to leatherwork to woodworking to concrete pouring, alongside a full cocktail service.
Pando asked for 150,000 dollars for 10 percent, valuing her company at 1.5 million dollars, a figure she had to defend in front of a panel that included Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, and Kendra Scott, all of whom ultimately passed.
The Deal That Got Done
Kevin O'Leary made the offer that closed: 150,000 dollars for a 20 percent stake, double the equity Pando had originally offered, but a deal that came with a nationally televised endorsement for a business built entirely on people showing up in person, which is worth more to a venue-based company than to a shippable product brand.
The exposure translated directly into bookings. Following the episode's broadcast, Makers Social saw a real increase in reservation traffic, exactly the kind of immediate, measurable bump that a Shark Tank appearance is supposed to deliver for a local business.
Makers Social net worth in 2026
No formal net worth figure has been published for Makers Social, and given that it is a single-location, privately held venue business, a meaningful valuation estimate is hard to construct beyond what the company has disclosed about its own operations. What is documented is 2024 revenue of 546,000 dollars against a net profit of 41,000 dollars, with alcohol sales accounting for roughly 30 percent of that total and craft projects driving the rest. That is a real, if modest, profit margin for a hospitality business, and it is the most honest financial picture available rather than a speculative company-wide dollar figure.
Where Things Stand Now
With Kevin O'Leary's investment behind her, Pando has been working toward a second Makers Social location, planned around 50 standard seats plus an additional 30 seats set aside for private events, a meaningful expansion for a business that has so far operated out of one Columbus storefront.
For a venue business born in the middle of a pandemic and built on the idea of strangers pouring resin next to each other while drinking cocktails, turning a profit and planning a second location four years later is a genuine success story, and one where the Shark Tank deal appears to have actually delivered on its promise rather than fading into a handshake that went nowhere.
That kind of expansion is also a real test for a concept-driven venue business, since a second location has to prove the model travels beyond the specific neighborhood, staff, and local following that made the first one work, rather than assuming a Shark Tank credential alone will carry a new address. Pando's 2024 profit margin gives her a real number to defend if and when that second Makers Social opens.
Winning over Kevin O'Leary specifically, rather than Lori Greiner or Robert Herjavec, both of whom have deep retail and consumer product backgrounds, suggests the pitch that resonated was less about the crafts themselves and more about the underlying unit economics of a bar that also sells experiences, a numbers-first story that plays directly to O'Leary's usual investing instincts.
Where to buy Makers Social
Still selling as of April 14, 2026. Check today's price and availability.
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See the full Makers Social deal breakdown and term sheet →
