Most founders walk off the Shark Tank set either celebrating a deal or nursing a rejection. Miles Penn did something different — he walked away from an offer he didn’t like. That decision raised eyebrows at the time. A few years later, it looks like it might have been the right call.
This article covers exactly what happened during MTailor’s Shark Tank pitch, why Penn turned down the Sharks, how the company raised money afterward, and where the business stands today in terms of revenue, funding, and product line.
What MTailor Pitched on Shark Tank Season 7
MTailor appeared in Season 7, Episode 721. Founder Miles Penn pitched a smartphone app that uses computer vision to measure a customer’s body from a short video. The customer spins slowly in front of their phone camera, and the algorithm extracts their body dimensions using background subtraction.
The core claim was bold: MTailor said its app was 20% more accurate than a professional tailor. That figure is MTailor’s own marketing number — it has not been independently verified — and it drew immediate skepticism from the Sharks.
On pricing, the pitch made a clear case. Custom shirts through MTailor started at around $69. Traditional tailored shirts often run $125 to $150 or more. The value proposition was straightforward — custom clothing, measured by your phone, without an in-person appointment, at a lower price point.
Why Penn Turned Down the Sharks
This is the part most people searching for an MTailor update actually want to know. Did the Sharks say no, or did Penn walk away?
Penn walked away. The Sharks made offers, with discussions reportedly involving around $2.5 million at a valuation of approximately $25 million. Penn declined. The Sharks had already expressed concern about both the accuracy claims and whether the company’s valuation was justified at that stage.
Penn’s position appeared to center on protecting the company’s valuation and keeping control of the technology. Accepting unfavorable terms — especially around licensing — wasn’t something he was willing to do for the sake of a TV deal and the exposure that comes with it.
From a business standpoint, this is an interesting case. A lot of founders treat a Shark Tank offer as a lifeline. Penn treated it as a negotiation he wasn’t willing to lose ground on. Whether that was the right move depends on what happened next.
How MTailor Raised Money After the Show
Walking away from Shark Tank without a deal doesn’t automatically mean a company runs out of options. MTailor proved that.
After the show, Penn pursued venture capital on his own terms. MTailor raised $7.2 million in 2018, followed by another $8.3 million in January 2022. That puts total VC funding at approximately $15.5 million across two rounds.
Co-founder Rafi Witten departed the company in 2019. Penn continued leading MTailor through both funding rounds and the company’s expansion phase.
MTailor also uses its Shark Tank history as a credibility signal. The company’s investor landing page references the Shark Tank appearance alongside its patented AI body-scanning technology, positioning MTailor as a tech firm that happened to start with a TV pitch — not a reality TV brand that stumbled into apparel.
The fact that MTailor was able to raise over $15 million from venture investors after declining a Shark Tank deal suggests that Penn’s valuation instincts weren’t entirely off base. Investors who came in later apparently agreed that the company was worth more than what the Sharks were willing to pay for.
MTailor’s Revenue, Valuation, and Product Line Today
As of April 2024 reporting from SharkTankBlog and BGR, MTailor was generating approximately $13 million in annual sales and carried a valuation of around $25 million. These are the most recent figures available — not real-time data — so treat them as a benchmark rather than a live snapshot.
The company has reportedly sold over 100,000 custom clothing items, which is a reasonable signal that this isn’t a niche product with a tiny customer base. It’s an actual business with real volume.
What MTailor Sells Now
The product line has expanded well beyond the original men’s dress shirt. MTailor now offers:
- Men’s custom shirts
- Men’s suits
- Men’s jeans and chinos
- Men’s tees
- Women’s jeans
Some prices are actually lower today than they were during the Shark Tank pitch. For a business that competes on making custom clothing accessible, that’s a meaningful detail.
App Ratings and Customer Reception
The MTailor app holds a 4.6 out of 5 rating on iOS based on roughly 5,000 reviews, and a 4.1 out of 5 on Google Play based on around 2,000 reviews. Those numbers are solid for a service that depends on customers trusting an algorithm with their measurements.
In October 2023, The New York Times ran a feature that included MTailor. The coverage was generally positive on fit, though it noted the shirts ran “comically long.” MTailor also appeared in a Business Insider 2025 roundup of the best white dress shirts for men. Neither piece reads like a brand struggling to stay relevant.
One thing worth noting: MTailor’s social media presence has been largely quiet since around 2021. Instagram and Twitter accounts have seen minimal activity, and Facebook updates have been sparse. For some businesses, that would be a warning sign. Here, though, the app is still active, the website is live, products are shipping, and media coverage continues. Quiet social feeds don’t always mean a quiet business.
Is the 20% Accuracy Claim Worth Taking Seriously?
This is a question a lot of potential customers ask. MTailor has always leaned on this figure — 20% more accurate than a professional tailor — as a core part of its pitch. The Sharks pushed back on it in the tank, and there’s no independent study that validates it publicly.
What the reviews do suggest is that the fit is good enough for most customers to be satisfied. The NYT review flagged shirt length as an issue, which points to the reality that algorithmic measurements aren’t perfect. But for people who struggle with off-the-rack sizing — shirts too tight in the chest, too loose everywhere else — a custom-measured garment at $69 is still a practical option, even if it occasionally needs minor tweaking.
The comparison to traditional tailoring is less about which is more accurate in a clinical sense, and more about what a customer gets for their money and time. MTailor’s measurement process takes roughly 15 seconds. A traditional tailoring appointment takes considerably longer and costs more. That trade-off is what MTailor is actually selling.
What This Means for Founders Watching from the Outside
The MTailor story is a useful business case for any founder who’s debating whether to take a high-profile but unfavorable deal.
Penn’s decision wasn’t reckless. He had a clear view of what his company was worth and didn’t want to dilute it — or hand over licensing terms — for the sake of a Shark Tank check and the brand association that comes with it. He left the tank without a deal and went out and raised $15.5 million in venture capital over the next several years.
That doesn’t mean walking away from every deal is smart. It means having enough conviction in your valuation and enough options to pursue that you don’t have to accept terms that undermine what you’re building. Penn had that. Not every founder does.
If you’re running a business and thinking through funding decisions, resources like Daily Business Zone cover practical startup and growth topics that are worth keeping on your radar.
Where MTailor Stands Today
MTailor didn’t need a Shark Tank deal to survive. It raised its own capital, expanded its product line, maintained solid app ratings, and continued generating revenue that, as of 2024 reporting, sits around $13 million annually.
The business operates in a real niche: people who want custom-fit clothing without the time or cost of traditional tailoring. The app makes that process fast and relatively affordable. The technology isn’t flawless, but it’s good enough that customers keep buying and reviewers keep covering it.
Miles Penn left the Shark Tank set without a deal and without a partner. What he kept was control, valuation, and a company that’s still running nearly a decade later. For a lot of founders, that’s a better outcome than the alternative.
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