16-year-old high school student Shirah came up with a product idea inspired by a dream, and it turned into a $2.1 million business within just two years. The idea was sparked by a friend’s real-life experience that made her think about drink safety during social nights out. The product is a scrunchie-style hair accessory that hides a foldable drink cover inside, designed to protect drink from unwanted interference in places like bars, clubs, or parties. What impressed us most isn’t just the product itself, but her sharp business instincts. With zero startup experience, she somehow did almost everything right.
It Started with a Friend's Real Experience
It all started when Shirah heard about a college friend’s experience at a college bar that made her worry about drink safety. That thought stayed in her mind, until one night she dreamed of a scrunchie that could cover a drink. The next morning, she grabbed her mom’s old pantyhose and one of her own hair ties to make a rough prototype. When she showed it to her family, her brother Michael, then a college student, immediately saw the potential. He knew how common these incidents were on college and thought it could be turned into a real business.
Together with their parents, they ran a small market survey. Shirah interviewed 100 women aged 18 to 25 and found that 26% had experienced or suspected drink tampering, 75% worried about it, and 78% said they would buy something to prevent it. To understand the issue further, Michael and their father visited some bars and talked with customers and staff. They realized the problem was more widespread than people thought, and few cases were ever reported.
Turn a Prototype into a Scalable Product
The initial funding is about $18,000 supported by their parents. With that, they asked a local seamstress to make a cleaner sample and take it to a product development company in Dallas to refine the design for massive production. The first batch of 4,000 units was ready soon after. They brought it to FAU Tech Runway and other startup pitch competition, sold locally, sent out samples, and gathered feedback. Winning 15,000 dollars in competition prizes helped cover manufacturing, website, marketing, and patent costs.
To build awareness and test market interest, they launched an Indiegogo campaign featuring their ready-to-ship drink-protection scrunchie. The campaign performed well, confirming real demand. As sales grew, NightCap moved from small-batch production in the U.S. to overseas manufacturing to lower costs and meet increasing orders.
Securing Business as the Brand Took Off
The concept behind NightCap is simple but clever: a piece of stretch fabric combined with an elastic band, designed as a wearable accessory that can transform into a drink cover. The structure was simple and effective, but also easy for others to copy. Shirah knew that from the start. So they file a patent for a “drink-spiking prevention device coming out of a wearable,” an utility patent registered in 2019 before the product gained mainstream attention.
When NightCap appeared on Shark Tank, its visibility exploded, and so did imitation. Knockoff versions began surfacing on e-commerce platforms, especially on Alibaba. To protect their design, they hired lawyers who reached out directly to Alibaba’s intellectual property division and worked with the platform to remove hundreds of infringing listings while continuing to track and file takedowns on other marketplaces. It became a constant battle, but the patent gave them strong protection. Thanks to it, no other scrunchie-style drink cover ever reached the market now.
Competitor? We Made It Ours.
After their Shark Tank appearance, NightCap’s visibility soared. Website traffic grew fast, and orders flooded in, not only through Amazon but also from universities placing bulk orders. Soon, major companies and organizations began reaching out for collaborations. Nonprofits, along with alcohol brands like Bacardi and Grey Goose, as well as the dating app Bumble and food delivery company DoorDash, started using NightCap as a promotional product, adding their logos and distributing it to college students.
As awareness spread, demand grew beyond North America, especially in the UK, where drink spiking had become a serious concern, according to Michael’s research. Reports of people, including men, being drugged and robbed made personal drink safety a broader issue. To streamline international sales, NightCap partnered with regional distributors in the UK, EU, Australia, and Canada, while NightCap focused on production and brand growth.
But expanding markets also brought new competition. In the UK, a local brand called StopTopps has a similar concept, a self-adhesive foil cover that prevents unwanted interference with drinks. Instead of treating them purely as rivals, NightCap reached out and formed a partnership, integrating both products into a more complete safety lineup. That’s a smart move, a real win-win.
Still Making Money from One Product?
Can a brand still make money after one viral product? For NightCap, the answer is yes, but by evolving. They’ve built out several spin-offs in two main directions: functional drink accessories and lifestyle add-ons. The functional line includes beer bottle covers, can caps, can cooler sleeves, and disposable prevention stickers. They are all designed to extend the same anti–drink spiking protection.
On the lifestyle side, they created scrunchies with hidden pockets, a keychain-style drink cover, and a portable retractable straw that fits the growing eco-friendly and plastic-free trend. They also introduced a College Gift Set, most likely designed for B2B clients, used in campus safety programs, brand collaborations, or promotional giveaways.
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