Tiffany Krumins Net Worth 2026: Ava The Elephant Founder

No reputable outlet has published an estimate of Tiffany Krumins' net worth. The $10 million figure that appeared here before had no source, and the claim that Ava the Elephant's sales reached $10 million in 2013 was wrong: Entrepreneur reported first-year revenue of $100,000 in 2010, $500,000 in 2011 and a forecast of just over $1 million for 2013. Krumins is the Atlanta inventor who pitched Ava the Elephant, a child-friendly medicine dispenser, on the first episode of Shark Tank and won a $50,000 investment from Barbara Corcoran. She now runs a second company, Opu Probiotics.

What is Tiffany Krumins' net worth?

Ava the Elephant and Opu Probiotics are private, and neither has published profits or a valuation. Corcoran took a 55% stake in Ava in exchange for her $50,000, so Krumins kept a minority share of her first business. She has also said the product had thin margins. On a 2023 podcast she explained that it retailed for about $10 to $12, and that after manufacturing costs and the retailer's cut there was little left for marketing and overheads.

Those facts point to a business that gave her a national profile more than a large fortune. Without disclosed figures for either company, we do not give a net worth figure.

Where the money comes from

Ava the Elephant

Krumins was working as a caregiver for children with special needs when she made the first Ava at home, according to the Shark Tank Blog and a 2017 Business RadioX profile. A little boy with Down syndrome in her care was terrified of taking medicine, so she built a fabric elephant around a store-bought dropper with a sound chip from a greeting card. She then answered a Craigslist casting call asking whether people had the next big idea but no funding, and found herself on the show's pilot episode.

Her episode aired on August 9, 2009. She had no patent and no production mold; Kevin O'Leary told her she had an idea, not a business. Corcoran invested anyway. According to Entrepreneur, Ava was sold in more than 10,000 U.S. stores and in 10 countries by 2012. Krumins later added a line of colorful stick-on thermometers for children, an idea she had while being treated for cancer, and has returned to Shark Tank for follow-up segments four times.

Opu Probiotics

Krumins' newer company sells a probiotic based on the Bacillus subtilis strain. She told the Family First podcast in March 2023 that she developed it after radiation treatment damaged her digestion, disliked the chalky powder she had been taking, and found a manufacturer in Georgia to make her own version with locally made, eco-friendly packaging. Development began about two and a half years before that interview and the product had launched about a year earlier. She said the probiotic has better margins and a wider market than Ava.

Career timeline

• 2009: Pitches Ava the Elephant on the Shark Tank pilot; Barbara Corcoran invests $50,000 for 55%.
• Months later: Diagnosed with thyroid cancer; continues building the business during treatment.
• 2010-2011: Revenue grows from $100,000 to $500,000.
• 2012: Ava available in over 10,000 U.S. stores and 10 countries.
• Around 2022: Launches Opu Probiotics in Georgia.

She has also appeared on The Dr. Oz Show and The Today Show, was nominated for Babble.com's Top 50 Mompreneurs, and has hosted a business podcast.

Cancer and recovery

About three months after her Shark Tank appearance, and shortly after the birth of her first child, Krumins was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She told the Family First podcast that she took ingested radiation treatments over three years, each requiring a week of isolation. The Shark Tank Blog later reported that her cancer was in full remission. She now describes herself as a cancer survivor and advocate for families of children with special needs.

Family

In the 2023 interview Krumins said she had been married for almost 19 years to a husband from Latvia and had four children, then aged 1, 4, 8 and 14. She said her mother died of autoimmune liver disease a few years before. The old version of this page listed her age, height and weight and said she had two children; those details were unsourced or out of date and have been removed.

Net worth compared

Krumins is one of several founders on this site who built consumer products for parents. Compare Cara Dumaplin of Taking Cara Babies and Ami Richter of Lug. See also Nader Masadeh and Urs Hölzle.

Why estimates differ

Sites that put her net worth at $10 million appear to have confused revenue with wealth, or simply invented a number. The only published sales figures for Ava peak at around $1 million a year, Corcoran owns the majority of that company, and Opu Probiotics has not disclosed results. Her true net worth is not publicly known.