10-Year-Old Girl Gets $60K Shark Tank Investment for Lemonade Business

By Madeleine Davies  |  March 26, 2015 | 6:30pm
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Mikaila Ulmer, a 10-year-old girl from Texas, is the face of a thriving lemonade business. No, it’s not just a well-trafficked stand in her parents front yard, but a full-fledged company—BeeSweet Lemonade—that just got a $60K investment on Shark Tank.

What makes BeeSweet special is that it’s sweetened by honey rather than sugar or artificial sweetener—an idea that Mikaila had after becoming passionate about the plight of the honey bee and receiving a unique lemonade recipe from her grandmother..

Her interest with bees began at age 4 when she was upset and freaked out by two consecutive bee stings. To make her feel better, Mikaila’s parents had her study the insect.

Black Enterprise reports that:

…her parents encouraged her to research why honeybees were critical to our ecosystem. The young mind grew fascinated. Not long after, Great Granny Helen mailed Mikaila a 1940s cookbook containing Granny’s flaxseed lemonade recipe. The light bulb went off and little Miss Ulmer was inspired to make something that would help honeybees and use Great Granny Helen’s delicous recipe. BeeSweet Lemonade was born.

When Mikaila presented her business on Shark Tank, FUBU CEO Daymond John was immediately willing to invest, saying, “Partnering with Mikaila made perfect sense. She’s a great kid with a head for business and branding. She’s got a great idea and I’m happy to help take BeeSweet to the next level.”

“I’m so excited to have someone with as much experience as Daymond on my team,” says Mikaila. “This is a great opportunity to have more people try my lemonade and save even more bees.”

A portion of BeeSweet profits go to honey bee preservation.

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