Destin George Bell

Bell is from Louisville, Kentucky. As a freshman at the University of Kentucky he joined the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship (VACE) and applied to its Entrepreneurs Bootcamp Accelerator, where his early concept “Run.io” won prize money; the idea later became Card.io.⁠[1]

In May 2020 he graduated from the University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business and Economics with an undergraduate degree in marketing. During the COVID-19 pandemic he was living in his father’s attic without access to a gym, which led to the idea for an app to make exercise fun; after graduating he moved to Austin, Texas, to pursue it.⁠[1][2]

In 2022 he co-founded Card.io with chief technology officer Max Miranda, whom he met through LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry, and became its chief executive. The app turns outdoor walking, running or cycling into a team “turf war” game in which users claim neighborhoods by moving through them while tracking pace, distance and calories.⁠[2][3]

Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go, initially rejected his pitch; he then emailed Niantic’s chief executive every week for three months and secured $150,000 in startup funds, an account a Niantic spokesperson confirmed.⁠[4]

Card.io launched on the App Store on January 7, 2023. By February 2023 it had been downloaded more than 2,000 times in 180 cities across 39 countries; the company had raised $1 million in total from WM Investments and groups including Niantic and had added the founder of Map My Run as an adviser.⁠[2]

On the Season 16 premiere of ABCABCABC (American Broadcasting Company) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It grew out of NBC’s Blue radio network, took its name after becoming independent in 1943, developed into a national television network after merging with United Paramount Theatres in 1953, was acquired by Capital Cities in 1985, and has been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1996. With CBS and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks, and it is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry’s Shark Tank he sought $150,000 for 5% of Card.io. Lori GreinerLori GreinerLori Greiner is an American entrepreneur, inventor and investor who founded consumer-products company For Your Ease Only, worked extensively in television shopping and became an investor on ABC’s Shark Tank. Her work spans household organization, consumer-product investments, publishing and television production.Open the full entry, Mark CubanMark CubanMark Cuban is an American entrepreneur and investor whose early work in computer systems and internet audio and video expanded into sports, film, venture investment and pharmaceuticals. He was the Dallas Mavericks’ controlling owner and a longstanding investor on Shark Tank, and co-founded Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company.Open the full entry and Kevin O’LearyKevin O’LearyKevin O’Leary is a Canadian entrepreneur, investor and television personality, publicly known as Mr. Wonderful. He founded software business SoftKey and became widely known through Dragons’ Den and Shark Tank. His activities span venture investment, financial products and consumer brands.Open the full entry dropped out; Daymond John and guest investor Rashaun Williams offered $150,000 for 15%. Bell’s counter of 10% was rejected, and after consulting his mother he accepted.⁠[1][4][5]

On the show he said Card.io had made $4,000 in the month before filming and had customers in 70 countries. Hearing about his weekly emails to Niantic’s chief executive, Cuban said, “That’s brilliant, and I hate you, because now everybody out there is going to send us 600 emails a week.”⁠[4]

He was interviewed as co-founder and CEO of Card.io on In Black America, a program of Austin public radio station KUT 90.5.⁠[3]

Months after the broadcast Card.io released an Android version and used a freemium model in which a $25 monthly membership unlocks premium features and removes ads. In March 2025 Bell posted on LinkedIn that the app had 40,000 users in 80 countries; the company also received a $100,000 grant from Render Capital and partnered with the Cleveland Marathon, the Road Runners Club of America and Hoka’s TX Blitz competition in Texas.⁠[5]

Hard Knocks Business interviewed him at the start of “Asking Shark Tank Millionaires How To Make Your First $1,000,000!”, a video tracking down Shark Tank founders. He said he “used to run a cardio fitness app” and that the company’s best year brought in “several hundred k.” He said working with Daymond John and Rashaun Williams affected him more as a person than it affected the company, and that doing the show with his mother was a dream come true.⁠[6]

He said the idea for Card.io came from asking “what if Pokémon Go was a running app,” and that its first angel investment came from the CEO of Pokémon Go. He described John as focused on opening doors to the right people and Williams as focused on customer acquisition cost, unit economics, code and database architecture, and preparing for a Series A round and a future acquisition.⁠[6]

He recalled that when he first moved to Austin he had $2,000 to his name, spent all of it on an AirbnbAirbnbAirbnb is a travel platform for booking stays, experiences, and services, co-founded by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk and headquartered in San Francisco, United States; its Class A common stock trades on Nasdaq under the symbol ABNB. The business began with hosting guests in the founders’ home in 2007, then joined YC’s Winter 2009 batch, and gradually expanded into local experiences, services, and boutique hotels.Open the full entry, lived out of his car for a time and ate peanut butter and Walmart rotisserie chicken every day.⁠[6]

Hard Knocks Business published a short cut of the same interview, “He got a SHARK TANK deal for his running app.”, whose description names him as Destin George Bell. In this version he said the company’s best year brought in $700,000.⁠[7]

When pitching investors, be brief, be brilliant and be gone: give only the most important high-level details and find a way to connect emotionally within about 60 seconds (video at 00:35).⁠[7]

Entrepreneurship is a contact sport; investors look for the tenacity to take punches and get up eight times after being knocked down seven (video at 00:46).⁠[7]

Be “patiently aggressive”: do something every day while accepting that not every day will bring results (video at 01:12).⁠[7]

Do not compare your chapter one with someone else’s chapter 100 (video at 01:23).⁠[7]

Focus on your own lane and get 1% better every day (video at 01:37).⁠[7]

He mentors early-stage founders in VACE’s Entrepreneurs Bootcamp Accelerator. His VACE mentor profile describes him as a founder and serial entrepreneur who, in about two years, built a venture-backed fitness startup, became a paid brand personality and acquired rental property, and who also works as a content creator and a real estate and equities investor.⁠[8][1]

Card.io (developer Cardiiio LLC): App Store page: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/running-game-card-io/id1628005395 (opens in a new window).⁠[9]