This article has been updated.
In 2024, Annabel Hay wowed the Shark Tank Australia panel when pitching Clutch Glue, a skin-safe adhesive allowing wearers to secure dresses, workout clothing, or shoe straps to their body.
Speaking to SmartCompany after the pitch, she said the deal was developing off-camera, referencing interest from a “large venture capital firm”.
We now know how that deal panned out.
As revealed in the Australian Financial Review, Hay turned down offers from the Shark Tank Australia panellists and instead booked a $2 million pre-seed round, led by Blackbird Ventures, with contributions from Koala’s Dany Milham.
Read on to discover how Hay handled her Shark Tank Australia experience, and her vision for Clutch Glue’s growth.
After one of the most impressive pitches in Shark Tank Australia history, Clutch Glue founder Annabel Hay says her $400,000 handshake deal is evolving into something even bigger.
Clutch Glue is a skin-safe adhesive, allowing wearers to secure dresses, workout clothing, or shoe straps to their body.
Hay, who launched the business with sister Lucy just two years ago, bills the water-soluble product as an alternative to traditional body tapes.
Boasting first-year sales of approximately $1 million, and an impressive profit margin on each tube sold, Hay took her venture to Shark Tank Australia earlier this year.
The business featured in last week’s episode, where Hay sought a $200,000 investment for a 10% stake in her business.
It was a hit with the panel, leading Sharks Rob Herjavec and Davie Forgarty to commit $200,000 each for a combined 20% stake.
“I don’t think I anticipated all of those amazing things that they said about me on the show,” Hay tells SmartCompany.
Herjavec’s claim that Clutch Glue was the show’s best-ever pitch is “the best compliment I’ve ever received, especially coming from people that are so impressive in their own right,” Hay continues.
“It is something I’ll hold really dearly to me.
“It sort of fills me with a lot more confidence now that I’m perceived well, I’m taken seriously, and I’ll really take that into discussions as I continue to scale up.”
Interest from those investors did not peter out when the cameras stopped rolling.
Hay says a “large venture capital firm” approached Clutch Glue after filming, with the intention of undertaking a larger capital raise.
“So since then, Davie and Rob have actually been a part of a renegotiation off camera for buying into the business, actually at a larger valuation than what you saw on a TV,” Hay says.
While that broader deal is in the works, Hay says Herjavec and Fogarty are already providing advice on how to enter new international markets; Hay says massive opportunities lie in India, Japan, and South Korea.
“They are just really generous and gracious, and just really want the best for me and Clutch,” she says.
Its international expansion is already underway, too.
As of Friday, the brand is now stocked in CVS, one of North America’s largest pharmacy chains.
The brand has secured a distributor and retailer agreement in the UK, with similar progress in New Zealand.
At home in Australia, Hay says the body adhesive remains a strong seller in Priceline, and will hit Woolworths shelves next month.
Reflecting on the venture’s growth, Hay, who developed Clutch Glue while working full-time as a construction manager, encourages other would-be entrepreneurs to have a go.
A dream and an ABN are all it takes to get started, she says.
“I just think that people sometimes get paralysed in thinking it’s going to be a lot of work,” she says.
“And yes, it is, but it’s not a lot of work in a day. It’s a lot of work over years and years and years and years.
Breaking down the task into smaller pieces, spread over an hour or two each day, is a practical way to get started.
“There’s also no point in getting bogged down in the details either,” she adds.
“Because a lot of the time you think you’re going from A to B, but it’s not quite that simple.
“You end up going from A to Z and then back.”
And sometimes, a good idea, hard work, and a bit of luck can take your idea from A to B and straight to TV.
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Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
