Uniform (Plus One) Shark Tank Update: What Happened After Shark Tank?

What is Uniform?

UNIFORM is a company run by Chid Liberty and Adam Butlein. It is a clothing company, but it’s much more than that. It’s more accurate to say that they’re in the business of helping people.

Following the guidelines of their Fair Trade agreement, Liberian women make the clothes in Liberia and then Chid and Adam sell the clothes from North America to places all over the world. For every clothing item bought, they donate a school uniform to a child in Liberia.

They are making an impact on many lives in Africa by furthering the children’s education and by providing jobs in ethical factories for working mothers from Liberia to Uganda.

Founder’s Story

Chid was born in Liberia and left when he was very young. He was raised in Silicon Valley before going back to his home country as an adult. One of the things he noticed when he went back was all of the children who don’t go to school.

Wearing a school uniform is a requirement at many of the schools in Africa. If a family can’t afford to buy their child a uniform, that child often doesn’t go to school.

Chid and Adam are also the founders of Liberty & Justice, which is the first Fair Trade-certified apparel manufacturer in Africa. It was generating $4,000,000 per year in sales until the Ebola virus outbreak, which forced them to delay production for a year.

With more fabric than they knew what to do with, they decided to incorporate making uniforms for children in Liberia into their business and launched UNIFORM.

Research shows that donated school uniforms increase attendance by up to 62%, increases test scores by 0.25 standard deviations, and two out of three girls who receive a uniform will delay their first pregnancy.

Did Uniform Get a Deal on Shark Tank?

While the Sharks were very supportive of their mission, they had concerns about the heavy competition in the clothing market and weren’t confident about maintaining the survival of a business with a clothing line that appears to be so similar to others.

There was also some uncertainty expressed by Shark, Daymond John, about how focused the founders were on only one product.

So, unfortunately, while the Sharks thought it was a noble cause, they thought it wasn’t a financially viable decision to invest and Chid and Adam walked away without an offer.

Is Uniform Still in Business?

Despite not receiving an offer from the Sharks, UNIFORM is thriving on its own. They launched a Kickstarter campaign to get the word out and start driving in some more business.

UNIFORM+1 is backed by 1,300 people who have pledged $230,059 to keep this project ongoing. This more than quadruples their original goal of $50,000 pledged, which they raised in the first five hours after the launch.

The company has also been featured on TV and in several publications including:

• Forbes
• The Best Daily
• Women’s Wear Daily
• Financial Times
• Good Morning America
• Bustle
• and Fast Company.

Their clothes are also worn by some famous faces including, Shaq, Whitney port and Adam Braun. They will continue their work to make education more accessible to children in Liberia while providing jobs for Liberian mothers and ethically-sourced streetwear for people all over the world.