A premium beach chair that folds into its own backpack with clip-on accessories like a sunshade and drink holder, reinventing the most neglected product at the beach.
The Sunflow chair is an easy-fold, reclining beach chair made from rustproof aluminum and premium fabrics that packs into an integrated backpack form, folding flat with the backrest and accessories stored inside. It solves the misery of hauling clunky cheap chairs, setup takes seconds, and clip-on accessories (UPF 50+ sunshade, drink holder, dry bag, pillow) snap onto the frame so the chair becomes a complete beach system priced from $198 with attachments sold separately. The company holds six US and seven international patents on the folding mechanism. Versus $20 drugstore chairs, Sunflow competes on durability, portability, and a fashion-forward color range born of Hsu's design background. Subsequent models include the 8-pound Shore Thing and the taller Sand Dune chair, plus lifestyle collaborations with LoveShackFancy and Shoshanna that sell out within weeks.
Leslie Hsu and Greg Besner conceived the chair while packing for family beach trips and spent three years engineering it before launching in 2021; within about a year they had sold 11,000 chairs (44,000 including accessories) entirely direct-to-consumer at strong margins. Their March 2022 Shark Tank pitch asked $1 million for 6% and ended in a handshake deal with Kevin O'Leary ($1M for 5% plus royalty), though the deal ultimately did not close after taping. The episode itself was the real prize: orders increased tenfold, and the founders raised $3.5 million from outside investors to fund inventory and product line expansion. The company grew into a full beach-lifestyle brand with collaborations, distribution to over 900 retail locations and 200+ hotels and resorts, and projected sales around $14 million in 2024, while remaining a family-run business at its core.
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