What you need to know
- Steve Wozniak's unicorn company competition series is for sale.
- The Apple co-founder serves as a panelist on Unicorn Hunters, a show hunting for the next $1 billion company.
Will Woz sell the show to Apple?
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is hopping into primetime.
As reported by Variety, Wozniak and Lance Bass, known for NSNYC, are shopping a crowd-financing competition show called Unicorn Hunters with Craig Plestis, the executive producer of The Masked Singer. The series is currently being shopped domestically for a buyer after four episodes ran online earlier this year.
The series centers on finding so-called "unicorn" companies — startups that reach $1 billion valuation, by attracting investors from around the world. The show's pitch: "No one has the ability to predict which companies will ultimately become unicorns, but 'Unicorn Hunters' offers you a front-row seat to hear the pitch from businesses that have what it takes to become one. With 'Unicorn Hunters,' you 'discover' private startups at the same time as our panel of experts, and you get an equal shot at investing in these very promising companies before they go big."
Four episodes of "Unicorn Hunters" were filmed and ran online earlier this year; now, the show's producers and talent are aiming to transition the series from the web to television, and are shopping new episodes for licensing both here in the U.S. and internationally. Companies highlighted in the first episodes included Far UV Technologies, fitness company Forte, Starton Therapeutics, Intrommune Therapeutics and Carbon Connect.
In addition to Bass and Wozniak, the show's panel includes Alex Konanykhin, Rosie Rios, Moe Vela, Silvina Moschini, and John Bercow.
Plestis' Smart Dog Media (which is also behind "The Masked Dancer" and "Celebrity Show Off") is the producer behind "Unicorn Hunters," which gives viewers a chance to co-invest in companies pre-IPO. According to the producers, a priority is given to "historically marginalized entrepreneurs, such as women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+. The focus of the series is on finding the next big investment opportunity and helping investors earn high ROI while financing innovations."
Besides Bass and Wozniak, the show's "Circle of Money" panel includes TransparentBusiness CEO Alex Konanykhin, former U.S. treasurer Rosie Rios, attorney and author Moe Vela (former Director of Administration to then Vice President Joe Biden) and TransparentBusiness co-founder, chairwoman and president Silvina Moschini. New to the panel when the show resumes taping is former British Parliament member and UK House of Commons speaker John Bercow.
It's currently unknown who may pick up Unicorn Hunters, but Apple TV+ seems like an obvious fit given it is now part of the company that Woz founded. Whether or not Apple is interested, however, is unknown.
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