Twelve year old creator of temporary LEGO glue gets $80,000 investment on Shark Tank

A young entrepreneur received an $80,000 investment on TV’s Shark Tank, in his non-permanent glue that is designed to help hold LEGO models together.

Shark Tank, the US television series that is similar to the UK series Dragons’ Den, saw a 12 year old child walk away with an $80,000 investment in his business. Tripp Philips invented Le-Glue, a non-permanent glue that can temporarily hold LEGO bricks together. The product is used to glue the bricks together, then dissolves in warm water within 30 seconds, allowing the bricks to separate.

According to CNBC, he impressed judges with getting a patent at the age of 10 years old. “My patent attorney told me that I was one of the youngest patent holders in U.S. history,” Tripp said in the episode.

lego

The young builder hoped to get an $80,000 investment for 15 percent of the company. Kevin O’Leary offered $80,000 for 50% of licensing until that $80,000 was recouped. After that point, O’Leary would drop to a 20% stake. “I’ll go make those calls for you, but you’re going to have to come with me to pitch it to the CEO,” he said to the child. “You’re going to have to put on a black suit and tie just like me.”

Although there was competition from Daymond John, Tripp went with O’Leary’s offer.

After the episode aired on Sunday evening, Le-Glue had 2,000 orders through the company’s website by Monday morning.

LEGO sets are available to buy at shop.LEGO.com.

Author Profile

Graham
Graham was the BrickFanatics.com Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education.

Follw Graham on Twitter @grahamh100.

Graham

Graham was the BrickFanatics.com Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education. Follw Graham on Twitter @grahamh100.

One thought on “Twelve year old creator of temporary LEGO glue gets $80,000 investment on Shark Tank

  • 10/10/2018 at 09:12
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    Excellent. Finally something that will hold Lepin bricks together.

    Being serious though, is the clutch power of Lego not enough to keep models together? If you are building something that falls apart too easily then perhaps you need to go back and rethink your design. That is what kids have had to do up until now, but this seems to obviate that need which in turn degrades the skills in design that Lego teaches us.

    Reply

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