The Ask

$5M Seed Round.
$2.5M pre-money. SAFE.

An 18–24 month window to establish leadership in autonomous wildlife management. Anchored by KiwiTech's $250K commitment. Target close: Q4 2026.

Request an Intro Call
The Round

Structured for a 2027 Series A.

Round size
$5M
Seed
Pre-money
$2.5M
SAFE instrument
Anchor
$250K
KiwiTech commitment
Target close
Q4 '26
KiwiTech pitch event catalyst
18-Month Milestones

Series A triggers.

3 paid airport pilots

Live deployments with measurable efficacy data — the foundational reference required for FAA-adjacent contracts.

PTCRB certification

Carrier certification on Varia hardware. Pre-certified Quectel/Sierra modems reduce scope by $50–100K vs. clean-sheet certification.

10 paying wedge customers

Golf and corporate campus subscriptions producing measurable ARR. Diversified beyond aviation reference accounts.

CTO + CFO hired

Pre-Series A leadership in place. Option pool allocated. Outside IP and robotics counsel retained.

$1M ARR

The threshold at which Series A institutional capital becomes pricing-rational. $8M–$15M Series A range.

Peer-reviewed field study

Academic publication of multi-site efficacy data — durable marketing currency for enterprise sales.

Capital Allocation

Where the $5M goes.

Engineering

AI development (KiwiTech partnership), firmware, hardware integration, PTCRB certification.

Pilots & Field Ops

3 airport pilot deployments. Field engineering. Site-survey labor.

Inventory

Build buffer beyond GuardBot's 12-unit demonstrator stock for paid wedge deployments.

GTM + G&A

CTO/CFO compensation, outside counsel, GCSAA / FAA / T-Mobile partnership development.

Structure

Joint venture, not a startup from scratch.

GuardBot Inc.

OEM technology partner. IP licensor. 13 years of R&D. 40% equity.

Maximin Management LLC

Commercial operations. Investor relations. Carrier relationships. 40% equity. (Carl Gunell, Bellevue WA)

KiwiTech

AI development partner. $250K commitment. 5% equity. NYC. Pitch event catalyst Q4 2026.

Patent & IP Exclusivity Agreement (PIEA) between Maximin and GuardBot is in place. Remaining 15% allocated to option pool, advisors, and Series A investor allowance.

IP & Patents

Verified technical credentials.

Beyond GuardBot's 3 US patents on spherical robotics, co-founder Carl Gunell is the named inventor on US patents in distributed-ledger systems for inter-carrier wireless service exchange — filed during his Geoverse tenure and transferred to ATN International (NASDAQ: ATNI) as part of the 2018 acquisition. Listed below as evidence of the team's domain expertise in carrier-grade IoT and private cellular networks.

Granted · USPTO

US 11,330,111 B2

Distributed ledger system for management and tracking of exchanges of wireless services. Granted 10 May 2022 · Inventor: Carl Gunell · Original assignee: Geoverse, LLC (now ATN International, NASDAQ: ATNI).

View on Google Patents
Granted · USPTO

US 11,234,116 B2

Distributed ledger system for management and implementation of exchanges of wireless services. Granted 25 Jan 2022 · Inventor: Carl Gunell · Original assignee: Geoverse, LLC (now ATN International, NASDAQ: ATNI).

View on Google Patents
Published Application · USPTO

US 2019/0150036 A1

Distributed ledger system for management of exchanges of wireless services. Published 16 May 2019 · Inventor: Carl Gunell · Original assignee: Geoverse, LLC (now ATN International, NASDAQ: ATNI).

View on Google Patents
Team

Operating leadership.

Carl Gunell — Founder & CEO

Maximin Management LLC. Swedish-born, Bellevue WA-based. 15+ years building enterprise connected-intelligence systems across 3G, 4G, and 5G. Founded Maximin (Bellevue, WA). Co-founder of Geoverse (acquired by ATN International, 2018). Named inventor on US patents US11330111 and US11234116. Leads commercial ops, IR, carrier relationships, GTM.

Peter Mühlrad — Technology & OEM Partner

Founder & President, GuardBot Inc. (Stamford, CT / Stockholm). 13 years leading RollerBot development through DoD deployments with US Army, US Navy, Petrobras. 3 US patents on spherical robotics.

Open roles: CTO (AI / Robotics) · CFO (pre-Series A) · Lead Field Engineer · Outside Counsel (IP & Robotics).

Get the data room.

Full financial model, cap table, GuardBot OEM agreement summary, PIEA, FAA correspondence.