The Coldest Water Bottle: Here's What Happened After Shark Tank

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Having grown up in Naples, Florida, twins David and Joe Ahmad knew the importance of staying hydrated and cool. The sons of two engineers, they believed it was the only path for them, but David still wanted to put his business acumen to work.

That's why he founded Coldest Water, a provider of water bottles that keep liquids cold for up to 36 hours. In 2015, David put all $14,000 he had saved up into an order of 1,000 water bottles, but his brother Joe questioned his ability to sell them. Though David couldn't cancel the order, his worries proved to be irrelevant, as Coldest Water sold out all 1,000 bottles in just five months. By 2017, Joe agreed to come on board to head up the company's marketing, and it achieved $900,000 in revenue that same year.

Things only grew from there, to the point where the brothers could barely keep their inventory bulked enough to meet demand. By 2022, the twins were running a company that raked in over $15 million in revenue and changed the company name to simply Coldest after expanding its product line to everything from pillows to dog bowls. Seeing the popularity of their products but finding it difficult to scale business practices to harvest that revenue into profit, the twins took to "Shark Tank" in 2023, appearing on Season 15, Episode 15 in 2024.

Toting ski goggles, special effects, and a veritable arsenal of products, Joe and David swaggered into the "Shark Tank" with high hopes of getting $600,000 for only 2% equity in Coldest. Though their entrance was unforgettable, the Sharks were shocked by the audacity of the request.

Though Coldest had other products, its biggest seller was its water bottles and the focus of the presentation. This initially alarmed the Sharks given the competitive nature of the reusable water bottle market. Coldest wasn't even the first provider of this product on "Shark Tank," with Define Bottle and Clean Bottle both coming on the show a decade or more earlier. Though the Sharks were unimpressed with the twins' presentation initially, the Ahmads piqued their interests once they revealed their staggeringly high revenue numbers. Things quickly turned for the worse, however, when David revealed the company managed to lose $400,000 despite over $15 million in revenue.

One by one, the Sharks bowed out, citing the brothers' lack of business acumen and ability to turn an actual profit after a decade of business. Kevin O'Leary eventually made a series of deals, starting with $600,00 for 7% equity with a $2.25 royalty on each unit until he made back $3 million. After some back and forth that wrongfooted the Ahmads, O'Leary's final offer was $600,000 for 5% equity with the original royalty numbers. The twins of Coldest stated that royalties were a dealbreaker and walked out of the Tank without a deal.

In an interview with Naples Daily News, Joe Ahmad claimed he had no regrets about walking away from the royalty deal and that, without it, he "would have loved to partner with Mr. Wonderful, though." Though Coldest didn't secure a deal, it did have over 8,000 customers on its website while the episode aired.

One of the main points of contention for making a deal was Coldest's sheer number of different products. Though variety in water bottles can be great, allowing providers to appeal to a wide range of customer needs, expanding into dog beds and pillows may have reduced the company's efficiency, leading to its inability to turn a profit. Coldest seemed to realize this shortly after appearing on the show and has since stopped manufacturing more pillows, pet beds, and other ancillary products to focus on water bottles, its best-performing line of products.

Rather than a deal, David Ahmad seemed to walk away with a new perspective on business ownership. He applied himself to learning new strategies, philosophies, and money management styles to turn around his most successful hustle yet. Together, the Ahmads gave Coldest a complete top-to-bottom overhaul, covering everything from its staff to product lines.

Lost money, $4 million in debt, and a 52,0000 square foot factory was about all Coldest had to its name in 2024. However, it seems like it would take more than that to deter the Ahmad twins.

Coldest is still in business after managing a far more impressive pivot than a company of its size could be expected to manage. By April 2025, it was completely out of debt and manufacturing in multiple factories both in and out of America. It now has only 30 employees and a VIP Facebook group with over 38,000 members receiving exclusive discounts and offers. Its website remains its strongest selling point — though you can find its water bottles and other products (like gel packs to treat headaches) on Amazon.

Despite the company seeming to turn things around, it has received 43 Better Business Bureau complaints between August 2022 and June 2025. Most of these complaints revolve around miscommunications about the limited lifetime warranty, mold buildup, and even people receiving the wrong color or number of bottles. Though the company remains in business and debt-free, it's possible it has new problems on the horizon if it continues to accrue similar complaints.

Though Coldest slashed 80% of its products to achieve more manageable growth, that doesn't mean it's completely done innovating. One of its biggest plans is to expand into the coffee space with five, as yet undisclosed, products. This is a sensible move for any thermal bottle company and a far cry from its previous ideas of dog peds and pillows.

However, perhaps its most audacious plan is "Coldest World." According to its website, this is a potential theme park it hopes to open in 2030 where you can "immerse yourself into the expanding universe of Coldest" (per Coldest). But for a company so recently out of debt, diversifying into a theme park seems a risky move, especially with a hopeful date of 2030. Still, theme park or no, customers of Coldest are sure to have plenty of new designs and sizes of their favorite types of bottles available over the next few years.

Customers can only hope that Coldest manages to overcome its "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau and start generating profit now that it's debt-free and scaling back its product line. Regardless of its rating, thanks to companies like Coldest, your troubles with plastic water bottles are a thing of the past.