Overland Park-based ChessUp strikes Shark Tank deal

An Overland Park-based chess company was recently featured on an episode of ABC’s Shark Tank.

ChessUp founders Jeff Wigh and Adam Roush struck a deal with investor Lori Greiner for their smart chess board during season 14 of the show, which aired in early December 2022.

ChessUp teaches users how to play the game

The smart chess board has a built-in artificial intelligence trainer that can analyze your game by showing players which moves they are able to make for each of their pieces.
“There’s a curated set of lessons that we have a professional chess teacher that actually walks you through different scenarios and teaches you different strategies,” Wigh told the Sharks.
Its mission is to make the game more approachable, according to ChessUp’s website.

Want to see more? Watch ChessUp’s original appearance on Shark Tank here.

The investor made a deal of 5% equity for $300,000 and a 3% royalty

Greiner is set to take 3% of the company’s every sale until she has recouped 1.5x her investment.
Wigh and Roush originally went on the show to try and earn an investment of $300,000 for just 5% equity.

Overland Park ChessUP — Photo via ChessUp.

ChessUp officially launched in 2021

Wigh and Roush, along with another co-founder, Justin Farrell, first met when working together on an innovation team for Garmin, an Olathe-based electronics company.
The three co-founders left Garmin after Wigh began developing ChessUp as a way to teach his daughter chess.
Within 39 days of launching a Kickstarter campaign for the smart chess board in March 2021, the company raised $1.7 million through crowdfunding.

The advanced chess board costs $399

It can be purchased on the company’s website, as well as touch-sense checker pieces and a ChessUp carry bag for the board.
Players can also purchase spare chess pieces, with a 34 piece set costing $79 on ChessUp’s website.