Colorado entrepreneurs make appearance on Shark Tank tonight

A team of Colorado engineers is making their debut in the national spotlight, after beating out tens of thousands of other people.

Craig Beinecke and Adam Cookson, founders of “TekDry,” will be contestants on ABC’s Shark Tank Friday night.

The duo developed “TekDry,” a device that restores water damaged phones and electronics.

It started with a class they took during a semester at DU that encouraged them to develop an innovative product.

They wanted to tackle what has become a large problem.

“We estimate that 22 million people nationally drop their phone in water just in the U.S.,” Beinecke explained. “Nowadays that’s cutting people off from their friends and family, cutting you off from work, it really stops life somewhat.”

They had no idea, however, that their dream of becoming contestants on Shark Tank.

“We were contacted by the show, they suggested we put in an 8-minute video clip,” said Beinecke.

After the several-month-long process, the two packed their bags and headed for the studios in California.

“We got on, we did our pitch. There was a lot of laugher… and then it began. For about an hour it was three people talking at the same time.”

Beinecke says the judges are just as they seem on television.

“They definitely held true to their reputations of giving us a hard time as well and a few things that might have hurt the ego… but it was a really great experience,” he laughed.

The product is already being license to Staples stores and Beinecke tells us it will be in 600 locations by November.

If you want to know if the pair swam with the sharks or became shark bait, tune in to KRDO NewsChannel 13 at 8 p.m.