Define Bottle: Here's What Happened After Shark Tank

Most of us know we should probably be drinking less soda. Americans drink around 154 liters of it each year (via World Population Review), with almost 20% of people having at least one soda every single day. We also know that we should be drinking more water. We need a half to a full ounce of water for every pound of body weight, each day, according to performance dietitian Sarah Adler via UCLA Health. But plain water can be so boring.

One great way to enhance the flavor of water is by adding fresh fruit to drinks. But chunks of fruit or hydrating cucumber floating in your water bottle and rising to the mouthpiece every time you take a drink isn't exactly an enjoyable experience. 

Back in 2013, one young entrepreneur found a solution in the form of a portable water bottle with two compartments to keep the water and fruit separate, with a filter to let the flavors infuse. Carter Kostler, who was only 15 years old at the time, took his product, called Define Bottle, to "Shark Tank" in 2014 to see if any of the investors would bite.

Carter Kostler traveled from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to appear on Season 5 of "Shark Tank," seeking a $100,000 investment in exchange for a 20% equity stake in his Define Bottle business. Appearing as part of the "Young Entrepreneurs" special, Kostler handed out a Define Bottle to each of the sharks containing their favorite fruits, confidently pitching his idea as "a simple and healthy way to make water more exciting."

Kostler had already been through the design, prototyping, patenting, manufacturing, and production of his Define Bottle when he was just 14, and was already seeing some success with it, which impressed the Sharks. He had also become a youth ambassador for the Clinton Foundation's Alliance for a Healthier Generation. But the potential investors became more concerned about the venture upon learning that Kostler's parents had taken out a $300,000 home mortgage to help him fund his project.

Coupled with the fact that reorders were low, even though Kostler said he had achieved $65k in sales within the first four months, and that there were competitors offering similar products, only one shark was willing to make an offer. Robert Herjavec offered $100,000, but wanted 40% equity. Kostler spoke to his parents about the offer, and then declined it, saying they believed that Define Bottle was worth more.

Despite the lack of investment, Define Bottle reached a new audience after appearing on "Shark Tank," and achieved several notable successes. On LinkedIn, founder Carter Kostler wrote that he grew the company from a small start-up in 2013, with $100,000 in sales, to "over $1.4 million" in 2014. Define Bottle was named one of the "Top 100 Most Brilliant Companies" by Entrepreneur Magazine, and Kostler was also a finalist in Michelle Obama's Partnership for a Healthier America's "End Childhood Obesity Innovation" Challenge.

Kostler managed to get Define Bottle stocked in Target, HSN, and Harvey Nichols in the UK following his TV appearance, and went on to work with Dicks Sporting Goods and Carrie Underwood's CALIA by Carrie line. On Reddit, he said that he had thrown a party at his home to celebrate "hitting a million dollars in sales," and when asked if he regretted not taking the deal on the show, he replied: "Not a bit."

After his "Shark Tank" appearance, Kostler appeared on "Beyond the Tank," a spin-off show which aired the following year, where he said that despite not getting a deal, he had been able to pay back his parents for their mortgage.

Despite the initial success of the business following "Shark Tank," Define Bottle's social media pages went quiet in 2016, with the last tweet about the product appearing in February of that year, and the latest Instagram post in early 2017. The Define Bottle website is no longer active, and the product is no longer officially for sale online.

In a video interview broadcast on YouTube in 2017, Carter Kostler described seeing Define Bottle in the "garbage aisle" of a store in San Diego, which was discouraging and he admitted that the product was "on its way out."

Meanwhile, the competition that the Sharks were worried about seems to have been a legitimate concern, as online stockists such as Amazon now feature a variety of infusion water bottles from a number of different brands, with more recent developments including fruit-flavored pods, and vitamin-enhanced infusions.

According to Define Bottle's Twitter, the company unveiled a new mason jar infuser design in 2016 and launched a Kickstarter to fund it. Carter Kostler described the new product as a new way to infuse water, vodka, spirits, "or whatever else your heart desires!" on Instagram. However, the social media for Mason Infuser also went quiet shortly afterward, and the company website is no longer active.

Kostler, meanwhile, graduated from Parris Island as a United States Marine in June of 2016, aged 18, serving as a reservist with the Amphibious Assault Vehicle Fleet, according to his LinkedIn.

In the same 2017 YouTube video interview, Kostler explained that entrepreneurship was in his blood, and said that he liked the idea of exploring more projects in the future. In the next 10 years, he said, he'd love to "continue running a business, being part of a business, maybe dipping my hands in a bunch of different projects." It remains to be seen whether Kostler will launch any new products, but he certainly showed the sharks that age is not a barrier when it comes to being an entrepreneur.