Some carried prototypes. Others brought product samples or practiced a tightly timed pitch while inching forward in a line that snaked through a casino parking garage.<\/p>\n
Among last year\u2019s entrepreneurs was Siena Rampulla, who arrived with PULLATTracker, a personal safety app designed to act like a silent alarm that alerts trusted contacts or emergency responders if someone feels threatened.<\/p>\n
![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/sienarampulla-400x300.jpg\")
Siena Rampulla at the 2025 Shark Tank open call in Philly. (Holly Quinn\/Technical.ly)<\/p>\n
\u201cI noticed there were a lot of stories happening that had gender-based violence on college campuses,\u201d Rampulla said at the time. \u201cAnd those issues weren\u2019t being addressed by regular college safety apps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her idea had already gained some early recognition. In 2023, Rampulla won $30,000<\/a> through Rowan University\u2019s Rohrer New Venture Competition to help develop the concept. Since her Shark Tank audition, she moved to France after earning her master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n \u201cMy app is finally coming out now,\u201d Rampulla told Technical.ly via Instagram<\/a>. \u201cI wanted to build it in style.\u201d<\/p>\n Still going, with or without Shark Tank<\/p>\n Technical.ly also reached out to other entrepreneurs from last year\u2019s casting call but did not receive responses before publication. Still, public information suggests several are continuing to build their businesses.<\/p>\n Philadelphia entrepreneur Nate McIntyre brought a device connected to his Bodyrock Bootcamp fitness program and demonstrated it for anyone willing to try.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an isometric fitness device,\u201d McIntyre said at the time. \u201cYou create how much power and resistance you want to put into it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bodyrock Bootcamp<\/a> still operates as a Philadelphia fitness business.<\/p>\n Other founders pitched everything from snack brands to restaurant tools. Delaware entrepreneur Titilope Asafa promoted Titi\u2019s Kitchen<\/a>, which continues to sell Nigerian chinchin snacks. Inventor Yolanda Wells brought The Butterclip<\/a>, a hair styling attachment designed to clip onto a flat iron to help detangle and straighten hair. The Butterclip is also still available online.<\/p>\n While none of the entrepreneurs Technical.ly spoke with in 2025 have yet appeared on the show, it\u2019s still possible some of last year\u2019s Philly founders could show up on the current season of Shark Tank, which is still airing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Getting on the show doesn\u2019t guarantee a deal<\/p>\n Making it from that casting line to national television is a long shot.<\/p>\n The open audition is only the first step in a longer process that can include multiple rounds of vetting before entrepreneurs are invited to film.<\/p>\n Even then, as some regional founders who have appeared on the show have said in past interviews, not every pitch makes it into the final broadcast.<\/p>\n Philadelphia-area entrepreneurs who have made it onto Shark Tank include Richualist founder Dawn Myers<\/a>, who secured a deal for\u00a0 her hair-care innovation with Mark Cuban and Emma Grede for $150,000 for 15% equity plus 5% in advisory share. Wilmington tech repair company NERDiT Now<\/a> also appeared on the program, though the founders ultimately left without an investment.<\/p>\n The process isn\u2019t quite the same as pitching venture capitalists, Myers noted.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you go through the application process, you have to remember that these guys aren\u2019t VCs, per se \u2014 these guys are TV producers,\u201d Myers said in 2025.<\/p>\n Producers return to Philadelphia for another casting call on March 18, giving a new group of entrepreneurs a chance to step up and pitch.<\/p>\n But, as past contestants have stressed, it takes more than a great product to get Shark Tank\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to have the fundamentals,\u201d Myers said. \u201cBut you really have to be able to tell a story.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t