Triangle startup Sunscreenr lands $800K on Shark Tank

Sunscreenr, an invention from Chapel Hill resident and biochemist David Cohen,landed $800,000 from an investor in the latest Shark Tank show. He and his co-founder say they invented the camera that detects where sunscreen has been applied because both have family members who have battled skin cancer.

The episode was telecast Friday night.

Investor Kevin O’Leary offered $800,000 for a 33 percent share in Sunscreenr and after other panelists – including Dallas Mavericks owner and billionaire Mark Cuban – dropped out.

Kevin O’Leary is the self-proclaimed Mr. Wonderful and founder of O’Leary Financial Group.

In the give-and-take negotiating, Cohen had sought to sell a 20 percent stake. He later upped that to 25 percent but ultimately settled on the 33 percent offer.

Investors Lori Greiner, Daymond John and Robert Herjavec also dropped out, reported news website Business2Community’s Erica Abbott.

“Sunscreenr is a special viewer that changes the way you protect yourself from sun damage,” Cohen says at a website promoting the device. “We’ve taken technology used by scientists and made it easy to see where your skin is covered by sunscreen and where it’s not.”

He and his co-founder Jon Meyer of Raleigh say they invented the device that detects where sunscreen has been applied because both have family members who have battled skin cancer.

“We designed Sunscreen to protect the ones we love,” they note at the website.

“We wanted to create a way to better protect our children and ourselves from sun damage.”

Cohen is “a biochemist from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, [who] can make the invisible visible with a device ensuring one is always protected from the sun,” ABC says.

Here’s what ABC had to say about the company:

“Sunscreenr is a patent-pending viewer that lets anyone easily see sunscreen on their body. Sunscreenr literally makes the invisible visible and finally lets every sunscreen user answer the question “Am I covered?” Look through Sunscreenr and protected skin appears dark, unprotected skin appears light. No more missed spots and, more importantly, you will see exactly where to reapply. Sunscreenr is rugged, waterproof and shockproof. Though it’s no bigger than a granola bar it gives you the super power to see the invisible so you can enjoy your time outside knowing that you and your loved ones are protected.”

A spokesperson for Cohen says the Sunscreenr is “the first and only device that enables you to actually SEE where sunscreen is applied and absorbed.”

“The Sunscreenr is UV camera device that allows the user to monitor sunscreen protection via black-and-white UV imagery,” he adds.

“It’s small and rugged (like a Fitbit) and powered by a rechargeable battery. In addition to viewing others, Sunscreenr allows the user monitor their own coverage with a brief ’selfie’ video function.”