Update: Guard Llama landed $100,000 from Shark Tank judge Barbara Corcoran in exchange for 18% equity. The deal allows Guard Llama to use Corcoran's image in their branding.
Original story:
Another Chicago startup is about to go swimming with the sharks.
Guard Llama, a personal security startup that's created a device that can alert authorities in an emergency, will appear on an episode of Shark Tank on April 14, the company announced. The show airs at 8 p.m. central on ABC.
Guard Llama launched in 2015 with a key fob that sends a user's profile and location to local police with two taps of a button. Founded by Northern Illinois University grads Adam Havey and Joe Parisi, the device was inspired after NIU had a case of an abducted student and a school shooting. The startup has gone on to raise $550,000 in seed funding.
No word on if Guard Llama secured an investment from one of the celebrity sharks. However, Shark Tank investor Lori Greiner posted an Instagram picture with a llama and what appears to be the Guard Llama device, along with the caption "Say hello to my new little friend! ;)."
Parsi called the appearance an "amazing, yet very humbling experience."
“The amount of exposure the show gives you is incredible and we can’t wait to continue making the world a safer place," he said in a statement.
“We did a lot of preparation before the show,” added Havey. “But we could have never prepared for the call telling us we’d actually be pitching the sharks on TV.”
Guard Llama is now one of several Chicago startups that have appeared on Shark Tank, joining LuminAID, Dude Wipes, Packback, Rent Like a Champion, ReThink, Spikeball and BZ Box.
Guard Llama costs $2.95 per month for the standalone app, $9.95 per month for the keychain remote and app, and $29.95 per month for a family plan.
