Nui: Here's What Happened After Appearing On Shark Tank

Kristoffer Quiaoit and Victor Macias started The Keto Cookie Company in Quiaoit's mother's kitchen when neither man had any baking experience. What they did have, however, was a powerful belief in the benefits of the ketogenic diet, a low-carb, high-fat eating scheme that the pair credited with weight loss and higher energy. Eating keto was beneficial in many ways, but they missed their favorite sweet treats. 

That inspired them to formulate a recipe for a cookie that seemed to have it all: low carbs (thanks to almond flour) and low sugar (by substituting sugar for monk fruit and stevia). Some baking recipes are fairly simple, but Quiaoit and Macias had no small task coming up with their cookie recipe, which involved multiple swaps for traditional ingredients.

In August, 2016, they gathered $21,495 in start-up money from a Kickstarter campaign. A second campaign in October, 2017 raked in $79,187. A few months later, the men rebranded their cookie company as Nui. There were successes early on, with Nui building a good reputation in the online keto community. But overhead costs were high and Quiaoit and Macias were eager to scale up operations. It was time to dive into the "Shark Tank."

The founders of Nui pitched their cookies to the assembled sharks on season 10 of "Shark Tank," asking for an investment of $300,000 in exchange for 10% equity in the company. The panel agreed that the cookies were tasty and asked probing questions about Nui's valuation and business model. Right away, Mark Cuban stepped away from the discussion, citing the fact he had a hand in another low-carb dessert business that might be considered a competitor. Lori Greiner, too, excused herself, taking issue with the founders' valuation of the company.

That left Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O'Leary, and guest shark Alex Rodriguez. O'Leary bit first, offering the asked-for $300,000 in exchange for 2.5% equity and a royalty of $1 per box of cookies sold, which would drop to 45 cents for the life of the deal once he recouped his investment. Corcoran countered O'Leary's deal with a split offer of $150,00 in investment and a $150,00 line of credit, plus 15% equity and 50 cents per box of cookies in perpetuity. Neither Quiaoit nor Macias seemed thrilled with these offers. Rodriguez swooped in and stated he believed in the men and their vision, and offered $300,000 in exchange for 25% equity. Quiaoit and Macias hemmed and hawed through various counteroffers, but ultimately decided that Rodriguez's deal was the one they wanted to take.

For most businesses, appearing on "Shark Tank" leads to a quick, sharp spike in business. However, the castle started crumbling for Nui almost immediately. Nui's episode of "Shark Tank" aired in November of 2018. A little over a year later, in February 2020, the company's socials stopped posting completely. What went wrong?

Victor Macias himself spilled the information on his website. "Shortly after Shark Tank, we faced product quality issues and had to recall a lot of cookies," he stated. Given that Macias also mentions "quickly [running] into cash flow issues," it's a reasonable assumption that the deal with Rodriguez never closed. Comments on the Nui Facebook page from shortly before the social media blackout show complaints of cookies being sold out while other customers couldn't figure out how to order products, indicating some level of mismanagement. Like KidsLuv, a healthy juice product for kids which kicked the bucket after appearing on "Shark Tank," it seems Nui didn't have a business model that was set up for success. It's hard to say definitively whether it was an inferior product or a lack of business acumen that sank the ship.

Not only did Nui not survive, it actually went down in flames. Like a much bigger competitor, Girl Scouts, who were sued over allegations their cookies contained heavy metals and pesticides, Nui faced a spate of legal troubles in their (brief) time after "Shark Tank." The company filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and was quickly hit with a class action lawsuit alleging fraud. Nearly 200 people, including Nui customers, business partners, and even family members of Quiaoit and Macias claimed the two men had accepted funding in the amount of $800,000 without being able to account for where it went. It was also alleged that Quiaoit and Macias had left several creditors hanging as well as a handful of customers still waiting for hundreds of dollars in unshipped product.

Macias details a long and messy end to the company. For a time, Nui was losing money with every cookie order and offering sales promotions the company couldn't actually afford, with neither himself nor Quiaoit being paid for their work for nine months; resulting in Macias filing for personal bankruptcy. By all indications, by the time the plug was pulled on Nui, it was a mercy killing.

On "Shark Tank," Kristoffer Quiaoit and Victor Macias described having had entrepreneurial spirits since childhood. Even after Nui's painful demise, it seems that both men have landed on their feet. Quiaoit's LinkedIn bio lists his aspiration as "[e]mpowering people to be happy and healthy," a goal he has pursued through another sweet treat venture: Good Journey low-sugar donuts. Like Nui cookies, Good Journey's products are marketed as low-carb but with an emphasis on helping people regulate their blood sugar while also enjoying a guilt-free snack. Two flavors of donuts are available: horchata and chocolate. 

As for Macias, he's stayed busy as well. He offers paid classes in entrepreneurship, branding himself as a business coach. He's also dipped his toes back into the waters of "better for you" (via LinkedIn) bites with Santana Snacks, which is " reimagining nostalgic Mexican antojitos — like street corn (elote), spicy fruit cups, and dorilocos — into premium, Certified Organic snacks." Right now, a single variety of organic Sea Salt corn chips is the only product up for sale in the Santana Snacks storefront. As of this writing, both Good Journey donuts and Santana Snacks are live and able to be purchased, indicating that, for the time being, the growing ventures are faring better than Nui did.