Selom Agbitor is behind a company that started as a side hustle and transformed into selling in Walmart stores across the U.S.
Alongside Oliver Zak, Agbitor is the co-founder of Mad Rabbit, a natural tattoo care solution. The push to create the brand came after Zak experienced unpleasant scabs after getting tattoos, according to Entrepreneur. To combat this, in 2019, he and Agbitor began creating a clean product for tattoo healing in his kitchen.
“So we ended up ordering a bunch of ingredients from Amazon and a crockpot and trying recipe after recipe after recipe going off of the feedback of my mom’s apothecary experience,” Zak told the outlet. “That product [a spot moisturizer for tattoos with a shea and cocoa butter base] ended up being the product that we ran with for the first two years.”
What was initially a test product raked in almost $3 million in two years thanks to communicating with manufacturers and brand-building through paid media, according to the outlet. In addition, Agbitor and Zak appeared on “Shark Tank” in 2020, where the business duo landed a deal of $500,000 for a 12% stake with Mark Cuban.
“I know my parents are going to be really happy,” Agbitor said at the time, per CNBC. “I’m going to be an inspiration to my friends back home in Ghana.”
During the weekend after their appearance, Mad Rabbit generated an additional $500,000 in sales, which ultimately led the company to the VC space, according to Entrepreneur.
Back in March 2023, Mad Rabbit raised a $10 million Series A funding round led by Lucas Brand Equity — bringing the tattoo care brand’s valuation to $56 million — per a press release. Fellow investors included Cuban, Acronym Venture Capital, H Venture Partners, and more.
Nearly five months later, Mad Rabbit launched in nearly 2,000 Walmart stores nationwide. Seven of its 10 products are on its shelves: the tattoo balm, soothing gel, tattoo balm stick, SPF, numbing cream, daily lotion, and daily lotion tube. Additionally, Mad Rabbit’s products are sold on Walmart’s website.
