Shark Tank Will Be at Wharton This Weekend

The casting call will be open to the University of Pennsylvania community.

Beatrice Fischel-Bock, Madeline Fraser and Elizabeth Grover of Philly-based ZOOM Interiors.

Beatrice Fischel-Bock, Madeline Fraser and Elizabeth Grover of Philly-based ZOOM Interiors.

Members of the University of Pennsylvania community will get a big chance to show off their entrepreneurial edge at a Shark Tank casting session this weekend.

The critically acclaimed ABC show will make a stop at The Wharton School’s Huntsman Hall from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 11th, and will be open to the entire University of Pennsylvania community.

The gutsy hopefuls who show up will have just one minute to pitch their business idea to a panel of the show’s producers. And months from now, applicants with ideas that bait the producers may make it before “the sharks,” an astute group business leaders that includes QVC mogul Lori Greiner and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

The competition is merciless and the chances of making it to that final step are slim, with producers casting only about 200 of the 40,000 applicants it averages each season, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.

But Penn students and alumni might have figured out the right combination of confidence, wheedling, and business savvy to win the judges over. A total of six Wharton alumni companies, for example, have dived into the tank, including the edu-tech startup Zoobean, which struck a $250,000 investment deal with Mark Cuban on the show in 2014.

This is Philadelphia’s version of “Shark Week.” The producers will first visit XFinity Live! in South Philadelphia on Friday, June 10th, which is open to the broader Philadelphia community, and will stop at Temple University on Saturday, June 11th.

The application for Penn’s casting call can be found here.

And in August, Philadelphia magazine will host its very own Shark Tank-style competition, The Pitch, with UnitedHealthcare. Entrepreneurs will get the chance to win a host of prizes including $10,000. Innovators interested in pitching at the event before a panel of Philadelphia industry leaders, should submit their product or service here, now through July 15th.