Repaint Studios

Repaint Studios is building the future of sustainable home improvement.

Painting is the #1 DIY home project in America, with Americans spending more than $500 billion annually on home improvement projects, yet paint trays have barely changed in decades. Millions of disposable plastic paint tray liners end up in landfills after a single use, creating unnecessary waste and frustration for both DIYers and professionals.

We believe painting tools should be smarter, more convenient, and built to last.

That’s why we created the Repaint Tray, a reusable, silicone paint tray system designed to eliminate disposable liners while making painting easier. With an airtight lid, painters can pause projects anytime, save leftover paint, and reduce waste without sacrificing convenience.

Our vision is to build a new generation of sustainable home improvement products that replace disposable tools with smarter solutions for modern DIYers.

I Never Planned On Inventing A Product

In 2021, I owned a small furniture refinishing and restoration business. I painted almost every day, but I kept running into the same frustrating problem: my paint would dry out in the tray, and my brushes would become crusty anytime I needed to step away from a project.

The “hacks” (wrapping trays in plastic bags, foil, or saran wrap and storing them next to my food in the fridge) were messy, wasteful, and rarely worked.

One day, while standing over the sink trying to save another paint brush, I looked over at my garbage can overflowing with plastic paint tray liners and plastic bags and thought, This is incredibly wasteful. I’ll just buy a reusable silicone one.

After searching through pages and pages of Google and Amazon results, it hit me. It didn’t exist...yet.

That moment changed everything, and I felt like I was given the opportunity of a lifetime and I knew I needed to take it.

Three weeks later, I was buying raw silicone from a Hollywood prop shop, foam board from the dollar store, and using leftover plastic tray liners, hot glue, and pure determination to build my first prototype. The entire project cost me about $50.

And the results? It worked.

I Bet Everything On This Idea

Every year, more than 240 million plastic paint tray liners end up in landfills from the average homeowner alone. Imagine that waste 2x-3x more from professional painters and DIYers using multiple liners every week.

I became determined to improve an industry that had accepted waste as normal.

While pregnant with my second child, I went back to school and enrolled in an business entrepreneurship course. During that time, I conducted hundreds of interviews with painters, contractors, and DIYers to validate whether they struggled with the same problems I did.

The response was overwhelming.

Two weeks after my son was born, my provisional patent application was filed and I started building the foundation for Repaint Studios.

Throughout 2022, I faced rejection after rejection from manufacturers and investors, but I refused to quit. By January, 2023 I finally found a manufacturer willing to take a chance on me.

To fund the business, I liquidated my 401(k), took out a small loan from my parents, secured a CDFI loan, and pitched at every startup and pitch competition I could find. Every dollar went toward tooling, molds, and inventory so I could bring this product to life.

By December 2023, I was pitching to Lowe’s at their “Into The Blue” global pitch competition.

With zero sales or a single Repaint Tray in stock, I landed a retail contract and received the largest purchase order in the paint department.

From Prototype to Sold out

On February 1, 2024, I officially launched with our first inventory run of 5,000 units with nothing but a hope and a prayer.

Four months later, we sold out, 100% organically.

That was the moment I realized this was bigger than a single product idea.

To keep up with demand, I secured a $250,000 line of credit and ordered an additional 20,000 units for both Lowe’s and our direct-to-consumer customers.

Later that year, Repaint Studios launched in more than 417 Lowe’s stores nationwide and secured a contract with Home Depot’s dropship program.

I also won two major pitch competitions totaling $140,000 in non-dilutive funding and finished 2024 with more than half a million dollars in revenue.

The Reality of a Growing Retail Brand

2025 brought major growth, but it also brought major challenges.

We navigated rapidly fluctuating tariffs while transitioning into our own warehouse and fulfillment operations. At the same time, we continued expanding nationally.

We secured a contract with Ace Hardware, launched into multiple Ace distribution centers, hired additional employees, moved into our first office space, and closed our first pre-seed capital raise of $400,000.

The Repaint Tray was also named Popular Mechanics Gear of the Year alongside brands like YETI, DeWalt, and Milwaukee.

Then came one of the most surreal moments of my life: Shark Tank.

What started as a spontaneous application quickly turned into flying to California just three weeks later to film. On Season 17, Episode 3, I secured a deal with Barbara Corcoran and guest Sharks Chip and Joanna Gaines for $250,000 in exchange for 15% of the company.

Although the deal has not yet closed since filming, the experience gave Repaint Studios national exposure and validated what we already believed: this product resonates with consumers.

The Momentum is Real, But So Are The Challenges

In 2026, we officially launched internationally with Mitre 10 across New Zealand, marking our first step into global retail expansion.

But this year has also highlighted one of the biggest challenges consumer product companies face right now: supply chain volatility.

When we first began importing inventory, tariffs and duties on a single 40-foot shipping container cost us roughly $1,300. Today, that same container costs closer to $13,000.

That increase has dramatically impacted our cash flow and our ability to keep inventory in stock while continuing to grow. In addition, the time it takes to find a U.S. based manufacturer while still protecting margins has shown its own fair share of challenges.

To protect our retail relationships, we intentionally shut off paid advertising and scaled back aggressive marketing efforts so we could preserve inventory for our retail partners.

What many people don’t realize is that mass retail operates very differently than traditional small business sales.

When you accept purchase orders from major retailers, you are committing to deliver specific inventory on specific timelines. Retailers build promotions, shelf space, logistics, and inventory planning around those commitments.

If a vendor cannot fulfill orders, retailers can issue chargebacks, financial penalties, or even reconsider future business relationships.

And contrary to what many assume, these agreements are rarely heavily negotiable. Large retailers like Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware operate with standardized vendor agreements across thousands of suppliers. Unless you are a massive enterprise brand with significant leverage, core compliance terms are typically non-negotiable. So we run the risk of either losing those contracts, or risking massive fines.

That’s the reality of scaling a consumer product company in mass retail, and it’s exactly why access to growth capital matters so much at this stage.

Building A Household Name

The traction is real. The retail partnerships are real. The customer demand and 5-star reviews are real. Our product return rate is less than 1%.

In less than two years, I've gone from a homemade prototype built with hot glue and dollar store foam board to:

1. National retail distribution
2. International expansion
3. Multiple trademarks, copyrights, and patent-pending protection
4. Shark Tank exposure
5. International media recognition
6. Profitable customer acquisition

And we’ve accomplished all of this with essentially one flagship product. The Repaint Tray is a mere glimpse into a wider scope of products.

Repaint Studios is building a modern, sustainable ecosystem of painting and DIY products designed for the next generation of homeowners, creators, and professionals.

This capital raise is about more than just inventory. Your investment will give us real fuel to:

1. Expand into U.S. manufacturing
2. Improve margins
3. Increase production capacity
4. Strengthen our supply chain
5. Protect and grow our retail partnerships
6. Accelerate new product development
7. And scale a brand that has already proved product-market fit

The proof is there. We’ve already proven there is demand and we've already proven we can sell. Now we’re focused on scaling responsibly and building a category-defining company and a household name.

If you believe in resilient founders, innovative consumer products, and the future of sustainable home improvement, I’d love for you to join us in building what comes next.