Travel Guides Outdoor Adventures Camping
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Leslie Veliz
In 2017, Bryan Cantrell and Brent Davidson created Radiate, a product that provides consumers with a portable campfire. Radiate is packaged in a tin can and looks similar to a large candle. It’s perfect for mastering camping on your own. You light it and voila, you have a campfire that can be used anywhere outdoors.
Radiate retails for $27.99 and has a 3-5 hour burn time; but if you need to extinguish it sooner, you can place the lid back on the product. Cantrell and Davidson got the idea for Radiate thanks to their beauty supply business, Fleur De Spa. They’d often end up with excess wax when making the beauty products — wax they were unsure what do with. Thus, they started collecting the wax in buckets, adding wicks, and making huge bonfires.
Cantrell explained, “A long time later, I had a bunch of Danish cookie tins lying around. (I gave cookies to my clients every Christmas, though I’d end up going through a few containers myself.) And I thought these containers might be the perfect size for a campfire. We started experimenting with the packaging, wicks, and waxes, and the Radiate was born!”
In 2018, Cantrell and Davidson were featured on Season 9, Episode 21 of “Shark Tank,” where they introduced viewers to Radiate. The pair asked for $50,000 for 20% of Radiate. But did Radiate have what it takes to blow away the Sharks?
One Shark compared Radiate to another product
On “Shark Tank,” Bryan Cantrell and Brent Davidson demonstrated how simple it was to light and extinguish Radiate. While the Sharks seemed fascinated by the product, Mark Cuban disrupted by asking the pair how Radiate differed from InstaFire. InstaFire (another easy fire-starting product) was on Season 7 of “Shark Tank” in 2016, where the founders made a deal with Cuban and Lori Greiner. Robert Herjavec shot back at Cuban, saying that Radiate was more convenient than InstaFire.
Guest Shark Rohan Oza then asked about their sales. Davidson explained that in 30 days, they had sold 1,100 units and noted that they had launched Radiate with the help of crowdfunding. Barbara Corcoran offered the pair $50,000 for 25% of Radiate but told Davidson, “There’s a piece of me that is saying you’d be really annoying to work with.” Cuban subsequently said he was out, citing that he didn’t find Radiate original and thought it was too pricy, amongst other issues.
Greiner then commented on the burning time, believing it to be too short, and she was out. Oza told the pair he had better a better network than Corcoran and was willing to give them the same deal she offered. Herjavec jumped in and said he would also do $50,000 for 25%, but when Oza pushed for Cantrell and Davidson to take his deal, Herjavec offered $100,000 for 25%. Unsurprisingly, Cantrell and Davidson accepted Herjavec’s offer.
Brent Davidson and Bryan Cantrell went on The View
Shortly after “Shark Tank,” Brent Davidson, Bryan Cantrell, and Robert Herjavec promoted Radiate on “The View.” Cantrell told the hosts their origin story and emphasized that Radiate is made with recycled wax from their beauty business and is a reusable product. When asked how “Shark Tank” had impacted Radiate, Davidson said that they were originally on track to make $100,000 in sales in their first year. However, with Herjavec’s help, Radiate was set to make more than $1 million in the first year.
In January 2020, Radiate was featured in an update segment on “Shark Tank.” Davidson and Cantrell said that business was booming since the airing of their episode. In addition, the pair noted that Radiate had since made its way to Bed Bath & Beyond and other stores, with Cantrell revealing that they were in over 1,000 brick and mortar stores worldwide. Davidson added that Radiate had landed a partnership with Night Lights, a sky lantern festival company.
Herjavec was also featured in the segment and explained why he had invested in Radiate in the first place. He said, “I love the guys, and I love the product. As soon as I saw it, I said this is fun, this is cool, and we’re going to sell a lot of them.” Cantrell noted that 18 months after “Shark Tank,” the company had made $2.1 million in sales.
Radiate expanded their product line
Since their time on “Shark Tank,” Radiate has been featured in Buzzfeed, The Week, The Daily Beast, and more, with publications noting that the product will keep you warm while camping. Although Radiate no longer appears to be sold at Bed Bath & Beyond, it can be found on its direct website and at other retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Uncommon Goods, and the Anza-Borrego Foundation State Park Store.
One satisfied Amazon reviewer wrote, “I could not help buying this after seeing it in Shark Tank and looking at videos of it on YouTube. It didn’t disappoint! Such a great product. Works exactly as stated and instantly brings magic to an evening outdoors!”
Others stated that the price was too steep for the product and were disappointed by the quick burn time. A reviewer wrote, “This makes a great gift, maybe a gag gift, but isn’t very practical as a campfire. It’s small and heavy and expensive for what it is, which is a campfire. Do yourself a favor and get a real bundle of wood ($4-5) and make a real campfire. It will be much cheaper and way more fun.”
Radiate now sells more than the original portable campfire they debuted on “Shark Tank.” The company makes its product in a Eucalyptus scent, a mini size, and an indoor version. In addition, Radiate sells roasting skewers for smores, a trivet, and a heat deflector.
Bryan Cantrell is no longer involved with Radiate
In a 2019 interview with Entrepreneur, Bryan Cantrell talked about how “Shark Tank” changed Radiate. He said, “The customer experience is king, and customers demand high standard.” Cantrell added, “The spike in sales and attention from the show made Radiate double down its focus on quality control.” When asked by Heavy if he had any advice for incoming contestants going into the tank, Cantrell said that they should be beyond prepared, noting: “Your pitch is way longer than the 8 minutes the viewer sees.”
Cantrell has not been a part of Radiate since October 2020, per his LinkedIn. His profile states that he has been an executive producer at Dark Gravity Studios in San Diego, California, since May 2020. However, he is still listed as one of Fleur De Spa’s founders. Furthermore, Cantrell’s website states that he is a screenwriter and author. In 2023, he released “Pirates of the Wild West: A Pirate Time Travel Novel.”
It’s unclear if Brent Davidson is still involved with Radiate, as he does not appear to be on social media. While the company is still in business, Radiate’s social media sites, including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have not been updated for some time.
