SoundBender Shark Tank Update: Is the iPad Amplifier Still in Business?

Have you ever tried watching a movie or taking a video call on an older iPad, only to realize you can barely hear the sound?

In the early 2010s, this was a massive problem for tablet users. The speakers were placed on the back of the device, pointing the audio directly away from the user.

Enter the SoundBender. Featured on Season 4 of the hit business reality show Shark Tank, the SoundBender was a clever, simple product designed to fix this exact issue.

Invented by a passionate teacher and Rabbi named Moshe Weiss, the SoundBender was a magnetic, power-free sound amplifier that snapped right onto the iPad.

While the product saw explosive growth and made millions in sales, the company’s story took a tragic turn.

As we look at the tablet market in 2026, you might be wondering: what exactly happened to the SoundBender? Is the company still in business today? Let’s dive into the complete story of Moshe Weiss, his famous Shark Tank pitch, and where the business stands now.

Company Snapshot

Business Detail	Information
Company Name	SoundBender
Founder	Rabbi Moshe Weiss
Product	Magnetic, power-free iPad sound amplifier
Initial Ask on Shark Tank	$54,000 for 26% Equity
Final Deal Made	$54,000 for 40% Equity
Investing Shark	Daymond John
Shark Tank Episode	Season 4, Episode 14
Current Business Status (2026)	Out of Business
Current Net Worth	$0

What Is the SoundBender?

The SoundBender is a magnetic, power-free tool designed to boost the sound quality of iPads and similar tablets.

When Apple first made the iPad, the speaker was placed on the curved back edge. Because of this, the sound waved out toward the back of the room rather than toward the person looking at the screen. This made it incredibly hard to hear what was happening, especially if there was background noise.

People would naturally cup their hands around the speaker to bounce the sound back toward their ears.

The SoundBender took that natural hand-cupping motion and turned it into a simple product. Made of soft, lightweight plastic, the SoundBender contained a small magnet. It snapped directly over the device’s speaker area and used the iPad’s built-in magnets to stay securely in place.

Because of its curved shape, it “bent” or redirected the sound waves, forcing the audio to flow forward. The benefits were huge:

• It was completely power-free: The SoundBender did not need batteries, charging cables, or Bluetooth connections.
• It amplified the volume: By pushing the sound toward the user, it made the audio louder and much clearer.
• It was highly portable: The small, lightweight design made it easy to carry in a pocket or bag.
• It was case-friendly: Users did not have to take off their iPad covers to snap it on.

Who Was the Founder of SoundBender?

SoundBender was founded by Rabbi Moshe Weiss, a passionate and creative inventor from St. Paul, Minnesota.

Before stepping into the world of business, Weiss was a religious teacher and the director of a local school. He proved to the world that you do not need a fancy business degree to invent something that helps millions of people.

The idea for the SoundBender sparked when Weiss was gifted an iPad after his school closed during an economic downturn.

He loved the device, but he quickly noticed a major design flaw: he could not hear his music or videos properly because the speakers faced away from him. After getting tired of holding his hand over the speaker, he decided to fix the problem himself.

Weiss started building prototypes right in his own home. At first, he simply cut up cardboard bandage boxes and taped them to the tablet. When he realized how well the bent shape worked, he decided to make a real product out of it.

To get his idea off the ground, Weiss turned to the internet. Throughout 2012, he launched two highly successful Kickstarter campaigns. He originally only needed $4,500 to turn his prototype into a real product. However, the internet loved his idea so much that he ended up raising over $18,000.

This early funding allowed Weiss to start manufacturing the SoundBender in Minnesota. It cost him only about $1 to make each piece, and he sold them online for $12.99.

Before even stepping foot on the Shark Tank stage, Weiss had already sold 7,000 units directly to customers online. However, he knew that to get into major retail stores, he needed a strong business partner.

How Was the Shark Tank Pitch of Soundbender?

Rabbi Moshe Weiss stepped into the Shark Tank during Season 4, Episode 14. Armed with a huge smile, incredible energy, and absolute belief in his product, he asked the Sharks for a $54,000 investment in exchange for 26% of his company. This request valued the SoundBender business at roughly $207,000.

Weiss began his pitch by showing the Sharks the exact problem he faced at home. He played traditional Jewish Klezmer music on his iPad to show how quiet and muffled the device sounded on its own.

Then, with a simple snap, he attached the SoundBender. The music instantly became louder, clearer, and directed right at the investors.

The Sharks were highly entertained by Weiss’s fun personality, but they also took his product very seriously. However, as with any pitch, there were some concerns.

Mark Cuban decided not to invest. Cuban pointed out that technology changes very fast. He worried that a business built entirely around a single flaw in an Apple product might not survive if Apple decided to change their speaker design.

Barbara Corcoran liked the product but wanted to structure the deal as a royalty (meaning she would take a cut of every sale until her money was paid back), which Weiss politely turned down.

Eventually, the negotiation came down to two Sharks: Robert Herjavec and Daymond John. Both men offered Weiss the exact same deal: $54,000 in exchange for a 40% equity stake in the company.

Even though this meant giving up more of his company than he originally planned, Weiss knew he needed the right partner. He chose to accept Daymond John’s offer.

Weiss picked Daymond because of his massive success in building the FUBU clothing brand. Weiss knew that Daymond’s marketing skills and retail connections were exactly what the SoundBender needed to become a household name.

Daymond’s deal came with one final condition: Weiss had to successfully close a pending distribution deal with Walgreens.

What Happened to SoundBender After Shark Tank?

The partnership with Daymond John turned out to be a massive success. Like many products featured on the show, SoundBender experienced the famous “Shark Tank Effect.” Online sales skyrocketed the moment the episode aired.

More importantly, Weiss and Daymond John got to work behind the scenes. The pending deal with Walgreens successfully closed, and the SoundBender was quickly placed on the shelves of roughly 350 Walgreens stores across the United States.

The product also found its way into Best Buy, one of the largest electronics retailers in the country.

When the show aired an update segment in Season 5 (just nine months after his first appearance), Weiss proudly announced that his sales had grown from $7,000 to nearly $250,000.

But the biggest win was yet to come. Daymond John helped Weiss secure a massive licensing deal with a company called the Wish Factory. This deal allowed the Wish Factory to handle the heavy lifting of making and shipping the products. They even created co-branded versions of the SoundBender featuring popular characters like Marvel’s Avengers.

In return, the licensing deal guaranteed SoundBender a minimum of $2 million in sales every single year. The company even invested in heavy-duty factory molds that were capable of producing up to 8 million SoundBenders.

The Tragic Passing of Rabbi Moshe Weiss

Right when the company was reaching its peak, an unexpected tragedy struck. On August 29, 2016, Rabbi Moshe Weiss sadly passed away from heart complications at the very young age of 41.

His sudden passing was a massive shock to his family, his community, and his business partners. Moshe Weiss was the heart, soul, and driving force behind the SoundBender.

Without his endless energy and vision, the company was left in a difficult spot. Shortly after his death, the official SoundBender website went down and was replaced with a simple message stating that they would “be back soon”.

Is SoundBender Still in Business in 2026?

The short answer is no. As of 2026, SoundBender is completely out of business.

However, the company did survive for several years after Weiss’s passing in what business experts sometimes call a “zombie phase.”

Even though the company was no longer creating new products or updating its social media (which hasn’t seen a new post since 2014), leftover inventory continued to sell quietly in the background.

For years, customers could still buy the SoundBender on Amazon. In fact, reports show that even in early 2024, residual sales on Amazon were still generating somewhere between $500,000 and $800,000 in annual revenue.

But eventually, the stock ran out. Today, if you search for the SoundBender on Amazon or Best Buy, the product is listed as “currently unavailable”. The official website, while sometimes appearing online, no longer has any items available for checkout.

Because the business has completely halted operations and has zero assets currently generating income, the net worth of SoundBender in 2026 is $0.

While the company did not survive the loss of its founder, Rabbi Weiss’s legacy lives on as one of the most joyful, successful, and memorable entrepreneurs to ever step foot in the Shark Tank.

Why the SoundBender Is No Longer Needed Today

If the SoundBender was such a great product, why hasn’t another company stepped in to make a modern version in 2026? The answer goes back to exactly what Mark Cuban warned about during the Shark Tank pitch: technology evolved, and Apple eventually fixed the problem themselves.

Between 2010 and 2026, the design of the iPad changed dramatically. Here is a quick look at how tablet audio has evolved:

iPad Generation Era	Speaker Design	Did It Need a SoundBender?
Early iPads (Gen 1-4)	Single speaker pointing out the back.	Yes. Sound was easily lost.
iPad Pro (2018 – 2022)	Four-speaker dynamic array (speakers on all corners).	No. Sound surrounds the user.
iPad Air (2026 Models)	Landscape stereo speakers placed on the side edges.	No. Best for watching movies horizontally.
iPad Mini (2026 Rumors)	Grill-less “vibrating chassis” (the whole screen acts as a speaker).	No. Completely removes speaker holes.

Apple eventually realized that users wanted to hear their movies and games clearly. Starting with the iPad Pro lines, Apple removed the single back-facing speaker and replaced it with a sophisticated four-speaker audio setup. This meant that no matter how you held the iPad, the sound fired out of the corners to surround you perfectly.

Recently, the way we use iPads has also shifted. Most people now use their tablets sideways (in landscape mode) with keyboard cases.

Recognizing this, Apple updated models like the 2026 iPad Air to feature “landscape stereo speakers,” perfectly placing the sound on the left and right sides of the screen.

Even more revolutionary, technology experts in 2026 suggest that upcoming models like the new iPad Mini might not have speaker holes at all.

Instead, Apple is reportedly developing a “vibrating chassis” system where the sound comes directly through the glass screen and the metal body itself. With audio coming from the entire surface of the tablet, there is simply no place to clip on a plastic sound bender.

The Modern Audio Struggle: Too Thin? Interestingly, while the original direction problem was solved, a new problem has popped up. When Apple released the M4 iPad Pro in 2024, they made it incredibly thin—just 5.1 millimeters.

Because speakers need physical space inside the device to push air and create deep bass, many users complained that the audio on these ultra-thin models sounded “tinny,” “distant,” and “muffled”.

However, unlike the old iPad 2, a piece of plastic like the SoundBender cannot fix this new problem. A SoundBender can redirect sound, but it cannot create deep bass that isn’t there in the first place. Today, if users want better audio from an ultra-thin tablet, they simply connect to wireless Bluetooth smart speakers or put in their AirPods.

Final Thoughts

The SoundBender is a classic example of American innovation. Rabbi Moshe Weiss saw a frustrating problem with everyday technology and used his creativity to solve it. His journey from taping bandage boxes to his tablet, to raising money on Kickstarter, and eventually shaking hands with a billionaire on national television, is incredibly inspiring.

Even though SoundBender is no longer in business today, it remains one of the greatest Shark Tank success stories of its era. It proves that a simple, highly helpful idea—when paired with the right passion and the right partners—can truly change the world, even if only for a few years before technology moves on.