Hele Outdoors Shark Tank Update: Did Murray White Get a Deal?

Anyone who has ever tried sleeping in the back of an SUV knows the miserable reality. You fold the seats down, throw a sleeping bag over the plastic ridges, and wake up with a stiff neck, sore back, and your cooler wedged against your ribs. Social media makes car camping look like a rugged, romantic getaway. The physical reality, however, often feels like a punishment.

Enter Murray White. When he walked onto the Shark Tank stage for Season 17, Episode 15, he brought a solution designed to turn any standard American SUV, truck, or van into a flat, sturdy, and highly comfortable sleeping cabin in minutes. His company, Hele Outdoors, completely eliminates the need for expensive, permanent van-builds or power tools. But taking a bootstrapped outdoor gear company to the next level requires heavy capital and a Shark's bite.

Here is the complete, up-to-date look at the Hele Outdoors journey, the tense negotiation over valuation, and exactly where the company stands.

What is Hele Outdoors?

Hele Outdoors is a direct-to-consumer outdoor gear company specializing in modular car camping platform systems. Their flagship product is the Hele Box. It acts as a 3-in-1 system: a sleeping platform, an under-bed storage organizer, and a pop-out camping table.

Instead of spending thousands of dollars ripping out the interior of a vehicle to build a permanent wooden bed frame, the Hele Box offers a temporary, ultra-sturdy alternative. It features an aerospace-grade 6061 aluminum frame topped with comfortable wood slats.

Every single leg on the platform is independently adjustable in half-inch increments. This is crucial because very few SUVs have perfectly flat floors when the seats are folded down. By adjusting the front and back legs independently, users can create a completely level sleeping surface.

When the camping trip is over, the entire 25-pound platform easily breaks down with a simple hex wrench and packs into a sleek carrying bag, giving the driver their normal daily commuter vehicle back. The system is universally designed to fit most popular American SUVs, including the Honda CR-V, Subaru Outback, and Toyota RAV4.

Who is the Founder of Hele Outdoors?

Murray White is the brain and builder behind Hele Outdoors. He grew up on the North Shore of Oʻahu, Hawaii, where he spent his youth surrounded by a culture of surfing, fishing, and outdoor adventure. However, as he entered adulthood, the daily grind of a busy career pulled him further away from his passions.

Eventually, White relocated to Colorado, the undisputed capital of the American outdoor lifestyle. He wanted to spend his weekends escaping into the Rocky Mountains, but he dreaded the hassle of packing a tent and sleeping on the cold, hard ground. He searched everywhere for a lightweight, removable car camping setup. The options on the market were either permanent, heavy wooden drawers that ruined his gas mileage, or highly expensive, custom-built camper vans.

Driven by frustration, White decided to build a solution himself. He spent weeks designing an adjustable, lightweight platform in his garage. Just one week after he successfully built his first working prototype, the unthinkable happened: he was laid off from his day job.

Instead of panicking and rushing to find another corporate role, White took a massive gamble. He took his severance check, combined it with his personal savings (totaling an initial $43,000 investment), and went all-in on Hele Outdoors. He leveraged social media to showcase his invention, tapping into the growing trend of "soft roading," a movement of everyday people taking standard SUVs on light off-road trails for weekend camping trips.

Hele Outdoors Shark Tank Journey & Pitch

Murray White stepped onto the Shark Tank stage during Season 17, Episode 15 (which aired on March 25, 2026), seeking a partner to help scale his manufacturing and solve an impending supply chain crisis.

He walked in asking for $75,000 in exchange for 5% equity, placing a $1.5 million valuation on Hele Outdoors.

White’s pitch was smooth, confident, and highly visual. He demonstrated exactly how quickly the Hele Box could transform a standard car into a comfortable bedroom, sliding gear effortlessly underneath the frame. The Sharks were immediately impressed by the product's engineering, but as always, the mood shifted when the financial deep dive began.

White revealed that the company was entirely bootstrapped. Through organic social media marketing alone, Hele Outdoors had already generated a highly impressive $465,000 in lifetime sales and was projecting to hit $1 million in revenue shortly. The margins were solid, too. The Solo version costs roughly $105 to manufacture and retails for $399. The Duo version costs $117 to make and sells for $499.

Despite the strong numbers, the Sharks had their reservations.

Kevin O'Leary was the first to show his hand. In classic "Mr. Wonderful" fashion, he joked that if he ever had to sleep in the back of his car, "something bad would have happened." The rugged, dirt-road lifestyle simply did not align with his luxury portfolio, and he quickly dropped out.

Guest Shark Rashaun Williams respected the hustle but felt the business, while profitable, was still too early in its lifecycle for his specific investment strategy. Lori Greiner agreed, noting that outdoor camping gear just wasn't her wheelhouse.

This left Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran. Daymond, an avid outdoorsman who loves fishing, related heavily to the product. He understood the value of staying close to nature without spending $100,000 on a Sprinter van. He made an offer, emphasizing his operational expertise.

However, Barbara Corcoran aggressively stepped in. She saw the viral potential and the clear consumer demand. She offered Murray the $75,000 he asked for, but demanded 25% of the company, a steep cut that slashed the valuation from $1.5 million down to $300,000.

Murray, calling this moment his "Super Bowl," refused to fold easily. He countered the room, asking if any Shark would do $150,000 for 10% equity. Neither Daymond nor Barbara budged. Barbara then pivoted her strategy. Recognizing that Murray’s biggest roadblock was fronting the cash for inventory, she adjusted her offer: $75,000 for 20% equity, plus a $75,000 line of credit to fund purchase orders.

Murray leaned in and threw one final, aggressive counteroffer back at Barbara: $75,000 for 12.5% equity. Barbara smiled, realizing she had a tough, savvy entrepreneur in front of her. She accepted the deal.

What Happened to Hele Outdoors After Shark Tank?

The immediate aftermath of the Season 17 broadcast triggered the legendary "Shark Tank effect." Within hours of the episode airing on national television, Hele Outdoors saw a massive surge in website traffic.

Because Murray White had effectively utilized organic marketing prior to the show, his Instagram and Facebook pages were already primed to capture the new audience. Videos of the Hele Box setup process went viral, and the company’s follower count quickly spiked past 30,000 highly engaged outdoor enthusiasts.

The primary challenge immediately following the show was fulfilling the surge of orders. The $75,000 line of credit negotiated with Barbara Corcoran proved to be the ultimate safety net. It allowed White to place larger bulk orders with his aerospace aluminum suppliers, drastically cutting down manufacturing lead times and ensuring that customers received their Hele Boxes before the peak American summer camping season began.

What is the Valuation & Net Worth of Hele Outdoors?

When Murray White accepted Barbara Corcoran’s offer of $75,000 for 12.5% equity, the on-screen valuation of Hele Outdoors was locked in at $600,000.

However, private company valuations scale rapidly with revenue. Before the show, they had achieved $465,000 in sales. Conservative industry estimates show the company safely crossing the $1 million mark in annual revenue, fueled by the national exposure of Shark Tank and the booming popularity of the Hele Box Duo.

Assuming a standard 3x to 4x revenue multiple for a high-margin, direct-to-consumer outdoor hardware brand, the current valuation of Hele Outdoors sits between $3 million and $4 million.

Consequently, Murray White’s estimated net worth is currently around $1.5 million to $2.5 million, factoring in his remaining 87.5% ownership stake in the rapidly growing enterprise, alongside the initial $43,000 of his personal savings that he recovered through the company's profitability.

Where to Buy Hele Outdoors?

If you are looking to upgrade your weekend adventures, the only place to buy a genuine Hele Box is directly through the official Hele Outdoors website (heleoutdoors.com). While they have grown significantly, they have intentionally avoided placing their products on Amazon or in big-box retailers like REI or Bass Pro Shops.

By avoiding third-party retail markups, they can keep the price of the Solo ($399) and the Duo ($499) accessible to everyday consumers. Buyers receive free shipping within the contiguous United States, and every platform comes backed by a 5-year warranty, which speaks volumes about the durability of the 6061 aluminum frame.

Are Hele Box Reviews Good?

The customer feedback for the Hele Box has been overwhelmingly positive, currently boasting over 200 verifiable 5-star reviews on their platform. The most common praise highlights the product's incredible stability and the genius of the micro-adjustable legs. Reviewers specifically note that the frame does not wobble or squeak during the night, a common flaw in cheaper, plastic alternatives.

One reviewer, James Wilson, highlighted the exact value proposition that Murray White pitched to the Sharks: "I was originally planning on building my own, but there's no way I'd be able to make something that breaks down so efficiently. The bag doubling as a storage bag helps a lot with clutter."

Another niche but highly praised feature is the availability of "stubbies," shorter replacement legs that drop the height of the platform from the standard 8.75 inches down to 4.5 inches. This allows taller campers, or those driving compact hybrid SUVs with lower rooflines, to sit up comfortably in bed without hitting their heads on the ceiling.

Hele Outdoors Alternatives

While Hele Outdoors offers a highly premium, plug-and-play solution, the car camping market does offer a few alternatives depending on a consumer's budget and technical skill:

• The DIY Wood Build: The most common alternative is building a platform from scratch using plywood and two-by-fours from Home Depot or Lowe's. While this can cost under $150 in materials, it requires power tools, carpentry skills, and results in a very heavy frame that is incredibly difficult to remove from the vehicle on Monday morning.
• Inflatable Air Mattresses: Brands like Luno offer custom-shaped air mattresses that mold to the back of specific car models. While highly comfortable and lightweight, an air mattress does not provide underneath storage. You still have to play Tetris with your coolers and bags every time you want to go to sleep.
• Rooftop Tents: For those willing to spend between $1,500 and $3,500, a rooftop tent keeps you completely outside the vehicle. However, they aggressively reduce fuel efficiency due to wind drag, raise the vehicle's center of gravity, and are completely permanently attached to the roof racks.

For the everyday American looking for a "van life in a box" experience without the massive price tag or the carpentry headache, Hele Outdoors has successfully carved out a highly lucrative, Shark-backed niche.

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