Vurtego is an advanced pogo stick which lets the user adjust its air pressure to control the bounce. You add air to create a stiffer spring and/or remove air to create a softer spring. (Basically, you can jump way higher and do more insane tricks than on a traditional pogo stick.) The entrepreneur behind Vurtego, extreme sports enthusiast Brian Spencer, pitched the product on Shark Tank in March 2011. (His father, a former aerospace engineer, built it.) Spencer went into the Tank seeking an investment of $500,000 in exchange for 20 percent equity. Many of the Sharks were concerned with the safety of the product and alas, Vurtego did not land a deal on the show.
After the Shark Tank episode aired, the Spencers raised $100,000 on Indiegogo. Three sizes are available: Small (for people 5’3″ and under); Medium (5’4″ – 5’11”); and Large (6′ and up). This Vurtego on Amazon ships for less than five bucks. New episodes of Shark Tank (Season 10, 2018) air Sundays at 9 pm on ABC.
