Aaron Hirschhorn, 42, a Miami entrepreneur and angel investor, was killed on Sunday afternoon when his motorized surfboard and a 38-foot Chris-Craft collided in Meloy Channel off lower Miami Beach and Government Cut in Biscayne Bay.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said he was pronounced dead at the scene. The commission was first notified of the accident by the Coast Guard, and it is conducting an investigation.
When Hirschhorn, a water sports enthusiast, did not return home late Sunday afternoon, his wife, Karine Nissim, posted a message on Instagram saying, “Friends in Miami Beach who are out on the bay by boat please dm me ASAP.”
The couple have three children, a daughter in kindergarten, a son in the first grade, and a son in the second grade.
Hirschhorn became a public figure after he appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank in 2019 to promote his pet health startup Gallant, and walked away with a $500,000 investment from two Shark Tank investors.
A former high school science teacher, Hirschhorn also launched a dog sitting business with his wife called DogVacay after he got a $1,400 bill from a kennel for keeping their dogs, Rocky and Rambo, for ten days. He said one of the dogs was so traumatized by the kennel that she hid under his desk for three days.
Hirschhorn raised $47 million for DogVacay and sold it to Rover, its main competitor. Rover is now a $1 billion company. Lately, Hirschhorn has been working with Miami Angels, a group of angel investors helping others with startups. Read more:
