Update: Candi asked the sharks for $500,000 for 15% equity. The startup left without making a deal, as the sharks felt the company was too early, and asking for too much money, to make an investment work. Original story below.
A Chicago startup is heading into the Shark Tank with a platform that lets fans set up 1-on-1 video calls with celebrities.
Candi, founded by husband-and-wife team Quiante and Keithan Hedrick, offers live video chats with famous folks like actress Tori Spelling, Saturday Night Live vet Chris Kattan, musicians Mya and Sisqo and others.
Fans can book calls in five-minute increments up to one hour. It will pitch the sharks, including celebrity investor Kevin Hart, Friday night at 7 p.m. CT on ABC.
Candi, which is an acronym for Celebrities And Influencers, operates similarly to Cameo, a Chicago startup that has exploded in popularity in recent years with its celebrity shoutout platform.
Cameo raised $100 million last year at a $1 billion valuation. Cameo's main offering is a video feature that lets fans purchase pre-recorded messages from celebrities, but it has since expanded to offering 1-on-1 live video chats in a feature called Cameo Calls.
The idea for Candi began in December 2019 after the Hedricks were watching Cameo fan reaction videos on YouTube. The two thought there was an opportunity to connect celebrities and fans at an even deeper level.
"We saw all these fans elated, ecstatic, crying and laughing from getting their pre-recorded Cameo videos," Keithan said in an interview. "And we thought the next natural iteration to that was…what if they could actually video chat, talk and interact with the celebrity."
Candi officially launched in April 2020 and has more than 350 celebrities on its platform. Celebs like Spelling and Mya have done particularly well on the platform, Keithan said, along with TikTok influencers who have generated strong followings on the fast-growing social media app.
Keithan believes the overall celebrity video marketplace is big enough for both Candi and Cameo to exist, with a large growth opportunity especially overseas.
"I definitely think there can be multiple winners in this space," he said. "It’s still a very, very young space. It's still a new area."
The startup is preparing for a big boost in eyeballs to its site once the episode airs Friday night, Keithan said, adding that the "Shark Tank effect is real."
Keithan was also pleasantly surprised to see Hart as a celebrity shark.
"We couldn't have been more excited considering how aligned he is with what we do," he said. "We couldn’t have had a better guest shark for our show."
