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NERDiT NOW Founder Markevis Gideon with the prototype of his new kiosk.[/caption]
Sharp-eyed fans of ABC's Shark Tank are seeing a familiar Delaware face in ads and promotions around the show's 11th season, which began Sept. 29.
Nothing is final until the segment airs, but Markevis Gideon, founder and managing director of NERDiT NOW, concedes that it is him in the commercials and that he expects to be on the Oct. 27 episode.
NERDiT NOW purchases, repairs, and resells computers, phones, and tablets and offers device diagnostics and virus removal while also providing technology to at-risk communities.
The company has recently been looking for investors for a kiosk strategy that would allow customers to drop off their devices in the morning and pick them up repaired that afternoon. He expects to launch at New Castle County workplaces and then expand downstate and either Philadelphia or Baltimore. He said they expect most of the drop-offs will be personal computers and devices rather than workplace devices.
Gideon declined to say how they did "“ if he did those pesky NDAs could mean the show wouldn't run his segment "“ but he did describe it as "a once in a lifetime opportunity that we really appreciated." He would not say how much he requested from the five sharks.
Gideon told DBT in July that someone donated him a computer to him when he was 12 and that has inspired him "“ through a foundation he created "“ to donate more than 400 computers to at-risk communities, including Ghana and Kenya.
Gideon earned second place and $9,000 in the University of Delaware's 2016 Hen Hatch Competition, enabling him to open his first storefront location. He was also selected individually as a DBT 40 recipient in 2018 and NERDiT NOW was included in the DBT's 2019 Fast 50 honorees for fast-growing Delaware companies. Gideon also delivered a TEDx Wilmington talk on "find your China" in September 2018.
