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There has been no particular shortage of entrepreneurs pitching what they believe to be a game-changing app on “Shark Tank” during its primetime run. While success stories like Season 8’s app CoinOUT have sometimes resulted, such investments have proven as iffy as any for the series’ billionaire panelists over the years. Even still, the Sharks continue to take risks in the app arena, particularly when they see one that is as cleverly designed as it is timely and noble in purpose.

That last factor was a big part of the pitch that brothers Dan Stelmach and Nick Sky gave for the financial aid app ChangEd during their Season 9 presentation. Their app was, after all, designed to help those facing crippling student loan debt find a way to make regular payments with virtually no planning or extra effort. The brothers note that ChangEd manages that feat by simply rounding up to the nearest dollar amount on every transaction paid using the app. It then funnels the change into a separate FDIC-insured account, with the accumulated money then being used as a payment towards the debt when milestones are reached.

The benefits of such an app are obvious to the Sharks, who generally applaud the ChangEd founders’ mission, as well as their work ethic. One of those Sharks even liked the idea enough to strike a deal to back ChangEd during the appearance.

Dan Stelmach and Nick Sky were looking to secure $250,000 to scale up operations on The ChangEd App when they walked onto the “Shark Tank” soundstage, offering 15% of the company in return. They wisely also beat the drum that the investment could not only grow the app and its user base, but, in turn, potentially help millions find an easy way to pay down their student loan debt.

That possibility was not enough to tempt most of those sitting on the panel, however, with Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, and guest shark Alex Rodriguez all passing on the opportunity. They did so even as they applauded what Stelmach and Sky were trying to do and what they’d already achieved via an app they were charging just $1 per month to use. Robert Herjavec, on the other hand, was intrigued despite having some trepidation about The ChangEd app’s valuation. His offer clearly reflected that trepidation, with the investor offering the requested $250,000 under the stipulation that he’d get 48% of the company in return.

The brothers were clearly not comfortable seeding what would essentially be a controlling stake in ChangEd to Herjavec to close the deal, asking instead to see if another offer would present itself. To their delight, it did, with Mark Cuban stepping up with a deal that fronted the $250,000 at a far more reasonable 25%. Cuban was quick to shut down any possibility of negotiation, with the ChangEd founders promptly and happily agreeing to his terms.

After striking a deal with Mark Cuban, the ChangEd App founders admitted they’d hoped for that very outcome when they booked their “Shark Tank” appearance, hoping to leverage the entrepreneur’s tech background to grow their own fledgling business. But as we’ve come to know, many handshake deals that go down when the cameras are rolling never actually close, as was the case with Season 10’s Spare App. It would seem, however, that Cuban and the ChangEd App team came to agreeable terms after the primetime appearance.

Stelmach and Sky even thanked Cuban for his early support in a recent Instagram post celebrating the billionaire’s “Shark Tank” exit. With Cuban’s help, ChangEd experienced a growth spurt after the airing of its episode in January of 2018. Per some reports, the user base for ChangEd has swelled into the tens of thousands in the years since the deal closed. Other reports note that ChangEd secured an additional $200,000 in funding through MetLife Digital Accelerator powered by Techstars in 2020. Stelmach and Sky likely used some of those funds to follow through on their plans to develop an Android version of the app, with ChangEd currently boasting more than 50,000 downloads through the Google Play store. By 2021, the company was reportedly helping users manage more than $2 billion in debt.

The growth and success of ChangEd has extended beyond the initial bump it saw after its “Shark Tank” appearance. As the company is not currently featured in the “Shark Tank” investment portfolio for the Mark Cuban Company, it may have also extended beyond the parameters of the billionaire’s initial investment. In addition to Android functionality, the company continues to offer ChangEd through Apple’s App Store, where more than 4.2 thousand IOS user reviews have awarded it a 4.6 stars out of 5 rating, with the founders claiming to have helped users pay off more than $100 million in debt.

Despite the successes, the monthly charge for using ChangEd has increased from $1 to $4. The company was also ensnared in the 2024 bankruptcy of Synapse. That shocking event actually froze the accounts of many ChangEd users, as the app relied on the online banker’s fintech platform to facilitate transfers. ChangEd users were invited to join a Class Action suit against Synapse.

With some of those Synapse issues still unresolved, it would seem ChangEd still managed to weather the storm and is very much operational today. The company has also shifted from its primary focus on student loan management to today helping debtors, businesses, and borrowers alike manage loans of all kinds. At present, Dan Stelmach and Nick Sky are still calling the shots at the company as well, with their respective LinkedIn pages noting that they manage day-to-day operations at ChangEd, which has also grown from a two-man operation to one employing 11 “scrappy, passionate people.”

“Shark Tank” episodes can be purchased or rented through Prime Video.