Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran Teams Up With OnDeck for Small Business Contest

Barbara Corcoran, co-founder of The Corcoran Group and famous Shark Tank investor, has teamed up with small business lender OnDeck to support entrepreneurs through a contest. Three winners will be chosen for a $10,000 prize and they’ll also get to meet Barbara Corcoran.

Contest applicants are asked to enter what they would spend the $10,000 on to grow their business. The deadline to enter is December 2nd, 2015.

The partnership is significant because it marks yet another time that a Shark has crossed paths with online business lenders. Just one year ago, Kevin O’Leary became a spokesperson for IOU Financial.

I'm thrilled to announce a new partnership between O'Leary Financial & @IOUCentralInc this morning! http://t.co/ECJl1K5ZUC #smallbusiness

— Kevin O'Leary (@kevinolearytv) October 2, 2014

Also around that time, Kevin Harrington, an original Shark Tank investor before Mark Cuban or Lori Greiner, co-founded his own small business lending marketplace, Ventury Capital. Straight out of the OnDeck or merchant cash advance playbook, Ventury’s FAQ says their system “deducts a fixed, daily payment directly from your business bank account each business day.”

Watch Kevin Harrington explain his company here:

Of course there was the time that a merchant cash advance company (Total Merchant Resources) actually went on Shark Tank and pitched the sharks…

It seems that the show and the real world have a lot in common.

Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future AltFinanceDaily events here.