Influencer Zoya Biglary Sells Vegan Seafood Company to a Fellow ‘Shark Tank’ Alum
Influencer Zoya Biglary’s plant-based seafood company, Fysh Foods, has found a new home. Fittingly, it’s landed with someone who understands exactly what it’s like to pitch a food business on national television. Biglary, who appeared on Shark Tank to pitch her vegan seafood company, sold her company to City Roots Hospitality. The restaurant group is led by fellow Shark Tank alum, Guy Vaknin.
Zoy Biglary sells Fysh Foods to fellow ‘Shark Tank’ Alum, Guy Vaknin
Zoya Biglary’s vegan seafood startup, Fysh Foods, has been acquired four years after the influencer made the push to get her vegan fish options in stores and two years after she appeared on Shark Tank, alongside her now-wife, Alix Traeger.
Biglary addressed the sale on social media following the announcement, noting that she felt it was time to hand the reins over to someone who could scale the business and bring Fysh Foods to new demographics. City Roots Hospitality, led by Chef Vaknin, plans to bring the vegan option into their plant-based restaurants in and around New York City. Biglary said she’s confident Vaknin can catapult Fysh Foods to the next level. She is excited to see the food product find its way into more people’s mouths.
The ‘Shark Tank’ deal never closed
Fysh Foods was born out of necessity. Biglary, known online as @zoyaroya, founded the company in 2021 after developing adverse reactions to raw fish, a food she previously enjoyed without incident. Biglary saw a hole in the market and sought to fill it with plant-based alternatives that mimic the taste and texture of raw seafood. She experimented with a mix of root vegetables, pea protein, algae-derived carrageenan, and flaxseed oil to find a winning and healthy formula.
In November 2024, Biglary and Traeger appeared on Shark Tank‘s 16th season to pitch the product. They were seeking $150,000 for a 10% stake in the company. Their pitch leaned into a blunt selling point: that traditional raw fish carries real risks, including mercury, microplastics, and parasites. The Sharks were won over by taste tests featuring the product in spicy tuna crispy rice, smoked lox, and ceviche. Kind Healthy Snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky ultimately offered $150,000 for a 30% stake in the business.
While Biglary initially accepted the deal on camera, they ultimately didn’t sign with Lubetzky. It is not uncommon for an accepted deal to ultimately not go through, for various reasons. Only about 50% of accepted offers actually get finalized.
Chef Vaknin, like Biglary, appeared on Shark Tank, hoping to secure a large deal to support a planned West Coast expansion of Beyond Sushi. Also like Biglary, Vaknin secured a deal that ultimately did not go through. His $1.5 million joint offer would have seen him giving up 30% of his West Coast expansion and a portion of his established East Coast profits. Since his 2018 appearance on the series, Vaknin has expanded his company’s footprint. Adding Fysh Foods to his menus appears to be his next big step forward.
Zoya Biglary teases a fresh adventure in social media post
The sale of Fysh Foods adds a fast-growing product line to a company built on the exact same principle as his Beyond Sushi business. It appears that Vaknin will be adding the product to his existing food philosophy, though more appears to be coming, too.
For Biglary, the sale closes one chapter and will open another. In a YouTube upload, Biglary discussed everything Fysh Foods had brought into her life. Now, she says she’s ready for a new challenge. While she teased followers that she’s cooking up something new, she stopped short of revealing her actual future plans.
Details of the all-cash deal have not been made public.
