A trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night presents a dilemma: Turn on the light and be blinded, or use the bathroom in the dark.
Matt Alexander and his brother-in-law Michael Kannely, both Utah residents and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, decided there had to be another option. Their creation, the IllumiBowl, is a motion-activated night-light that can illuminate a toilet bowl in one of nine colors.
On Friday’s episode of “Shark Tank,” a reality show for entrepreneurs, Alexander and Kannely pitched their idea to the panel of investors. "Shark Tank" shared a segment of their pitch on Facebook.
Kevin O’Leary, one of the investors, offered Kannely and Alexander $100,000 for 25 percent of the company, according to Forbes. Kannely and Alexander accepted his offer.
Alexander, a student at Brigham Young University, originally had the idea to create a light-up bathroom mat.
“I told my brother-in-law, and soon-to-be co-founder, about this idea at a family reunion,” Alexander told Forbes. “Upon telling him, he asked, ‘Why not just put the light on the toilet?’ So we began researching online, assuming it had to already exist, and were shocked to find there were still no good solutions invented yet.”
The product is available online and at Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Lindsey Williams writes for the the Faith and Family sections of DeseretNews.com