The Tomte Cake Net Worth Shark Tank Update

Gingerbread houses are a favorite part of every Christmas holiday. It is where the children and even the adults come together and assemble a gingerbread house along with its decorations. Even though it is fun, it is hard to assemble and thus takes a lot of time to make one. It also has a cardboard-like texture which is very hard to eat.

Miranda Vaughn, the owner of The Tomte Cake, has introduced a much more convenient option for all gingerbread lovers to make Christmas even more delightful. Her company offers a 3-D cooking pan to make gingerbread houses easier to bake. It also comes with an original children’s story which the owner has written by herself.

The story is about a gnome called Tomte who unknowingly falls into the cake batter and gets stuck in a gingerbread house. Thus, the product also comes with a pocket-size Tomte as a good luck charm. 

The owner came on Shark Tank to request $200K in exchange for 10% of her company. She also presented the sharks with Tomte cakes with a hidden Tomte charm inside, which was found by Cuban. Let’s explore her journey on the show.

The Tomte Cake Net Worth Shark Tank Update

Miranda was looking for an investment of $200k in exchange for 10% equity in the company. At the time of the episode, she valued her company at $2 million. Miranda successfully secured a deal with Kevin O’Leary for an investment of $200k for 15% equity in the company. The investment adjusted the company’s net worth to around $1.33 million. After the show aired, the company experienced a good boost in exposure. As per my rough estimate, the current net worth of The Tomte Cake in 2024 is around $4.5 million.

Shark(s) name	Offer & Demand	Counteroffer	Accepted?
Kevin O’Leary	$200K for 10% equity	$200K for 15% equity	Yes
Mark Cuban	Out	N\A	N\A
Lori Greiner	$200K for 10% equity	$200K for 24% equity	No
Barbara Corcoran	$200K for 10% equity	$200K for 20% equity	No
John Daymond	$200K for 10% equity	$200K for 25% equity	No

The Owner’s Backstory

Marinda has been a stay-at-home mom for the last eight years and was homeschooling her kids. Being from a strict religious cult, Marinda herself was unable to celebrate any festivals but in the case of her kids, she celebrated with them the joy of every festival at hand.

Miranda related that when she was decorating a gingerbread house with her kids four and six years of age, they were unable to assemble it. Then she even used a hot glue to stick the parts together which resulted in making the cake inedible. This situation made her create a method to bake a cake house for Christmas that is much easier to make, leading to the creation of The Tomte Cake.

Initial Pitch

The owner came on the show to seek $200K for a 10% equity stake. Her product is a 3-D pan to make tasty and easy-to-bake cake on Christmas. It also comes with a storybook about the gnome Tomte along with a pocket size of the character of Tomte to be used as a lucky charm.

Queries about the Product

Corcoran asked the first question about the items that come with the main product of her company. Miranda highlighted that her product comes in a set constituting a baking pan, the gnome, and her original storybook.

The shark also wanted to know the medium through which she was selling her product and its selling rate. The owner replied that she sells it online at $60 a set.

Cuban inquired about the cost it takes her to make one. She pointed out that it costs her $15 to make one.

Cuban also asked about her company’s sales. The Tomte Cake business basically started on October 7^th of last year and she sold all the sets in her collection, which were basically 5K in number in just 35 days.

Corcoran was curious to know how she achieved her customer acquisition. Marinda pointed out that she ran a static-graphic Facebook ad with a display of “A new Christmas tradition”, which led to her selling the product.

Kevin asked about the dollar amount the 5K unit equates to. She replied that it amounts to $200K and the ad cost her $40K.

Lori asked about the writer of the Tomte storybook. She confidently pointed out that she is the one who wrote it and even illustrated it as well.

Daymond inquired what Marinda needed a shark for. She related that she wanted mentorship and help from sharks to launch further product lines too.

The shark also wanted to know about her investments in the business. Marinda answered that she has invested a total of $150K in the company from her own pocket. She basically mortgaged her house along with renting the car to invest that amount which she has paid back as well.

Moreover, she needed the money to build her inventory and to get a hard purchase order.

Shark’s Response and Final Decision

Kevin offered Marinda $200K for 25% equity along with 25% of any distribution taken.

Lori then after highlighting how scalable and wide-ranging her business is, offered her $200K but 33.3% in her company.

Cuban was the first shark to leave the deal as he thought that other sharks would have a much better offer for her.

Corcoran also offered her $200K for a 20% equity stake.

Daymond then asked Corcoran to make a partnership for 25%, which Corcoran readily rejected.

Afterward, Daymond also tried to partner with Lori, which was again unsuccessful. He then offered Marinda individual offers of $200K for 25% of her company.

Marinda counter-offered Lori $200K for 20% equity. Lori didn’t like it and revised her offer to a 25% stake.

The owner counter-offered Lori for the second time and pitched a deal of $200K for 22%. The shark didn’t like that either.

Kevin then jumped in and revised his offer to $200K for a 15% equity stake.

Lori also revised her offer and changed her equity to 24%.

Finally, Marinda accepted Kevin’s offer and left the show with a deal in her hand.

Product’s Availability

After coming on the show and getting a deal, Miranda sold more than 20K units leading up to Christmas. By July 2024, roughly six months later, there is no clear indication that the deal with Kevin was finalized. At this time, Miranda is hosting a “Christmas in July” sale, offering a 25% discount. The set of Tomte Cake can be found on The Tomte Cake website. The website also offers additional gnomes, cake pans, and even gift cards for purchase.

Conclusion

The Tomte Cake, founded by Miranda, gained huge attention after her appearance on Shark Tank, where she got a deal with Kevin for $200K in exchange for 15% equity. Miranda’s unique 3-D baking pan, combined with her original story about a gnome named Tomte, has been a hit among holiday lovers. Despite no confirmation on the finalization of the Shark Tank deal, her business continued to grow, with over 20K units sold by Christmas and an ongoing “Christmas in July” sale. The Tomte Cake set is available for purchase on the company’s website.