Keisha Smith-Jeremie discovered she had a knack for creating unique applesauce concoctions in college, and eventually started her business Sanaia Applesauce in 2017.While she ended up turning down a $150,000 investment from Mark Cuban, she's since raised $750,000 through her network to support the business.
She continued to make her applesauce after graduating and as she climbed the corporate ladder, preparing it for the holidays or when she had a craving. It wasn't until 2017, when she started adding flavors from the Bahamas like guava, hibiscus, and tamarind that she realized there was a similarity between her creations and what the brand Chobani was doing with yogurt.
"We developed a beautiful gift box that offered customers the ability to taste all six of our flavors," she said. In September 2017, she moved the business to a commercial kitchen and hired a chef. "Over the course of the three years, there have been all of these transitions as an entrepreneur — you hold a lot of the tasks close to yourself, and then you have to learn to then delegate or have others replicate," she said.
At that point, Smith-Jeremie hadn't planned to raise money, and she'd never pitched her business to investors before shein front of panelists Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, and Robert Herjavec. But she didn't start raising money until her second year of business. She pursued the traditional friends and family round with an untraditional approach.
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