Gallery Guardian: Daniel Skowronski

Name: Daniel Skowronski
Company Name: Gallery Guardian
Location: London
Date Launched:  10/05/2017
Twitter handle: @GalleryGuardia
Website: www.galleryguardian.co.uk

Tell us what your business does:

Gallery Guardian is a new app that detects when suspicious images are created or received on a child’s mobile device, sending an alert that notifies a parent when it happens.

This gives the parent a chance to take appropriate action before it becomes a problem.

Gallery Guardian works by automatically scanning a child’s phone to detect any inappropriate images on their smartphone or tablet, prompting an immediate alert to the parent’s device.

The app offers an easy user experience with a quick installation and setup process that safeguards a child’s mobile device in a matter of minutes.

Where did the idea for your business come from?

I was particularly concerned as a parent about the alarming figures on cyberbullying, teen sexting and illicit images shared among young people that are reported on the news on a daily basis.

As a technology expert, I felt that I could create something concrete to protect my children and their friends.

Since my own AI machine language learning company  was already focussing on photo and video recognition, I thought to create an app that shifted the power back into the hands of the parents. That’s when Gallery Guardian was born.

How did you know there was a market for it?

When I started researching different types of “protection” apps for my 11-year-old daughter.

In my research, all I found was invasive spyware with long set-up processes that were really difficult to manage once installed. The technology needed to be more automated for parents to save time and for better monitoring.

Online safety is an international threat for many parents so I knew that Gallery Guardian could make a difference.

What were you doing before starting up?

I worked as an experienced leader in the fintech industry for over 20 years. I have been the managing director/CEO for OANDA EMEA and AMERICAS based in London and previously I was the CEO at Alpari UK.

Have you always wanted to run your own business?

Yes, and when Gallery Guardian was about to launch I also knew that I was ready for it. Nothing would have been possible though without my great team. Even if I’m the founder of Gallery Guardian, every decision and strategy is decided together with my business partners.

How did you raise the money?

To date the company is self-funded.

Describe your business model and how you make money:

Gallery Guardian is a subscription based model. We offer monthly, three month, six month or yearly subscription packages.

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

The biggest challenge was delivering the right message to the parents. Gallery Guardian doesn’t want to spy over children or tell parents how to manage their relationship with their own kids. It wants to act as a support mechanism to provide them with peace of mind.

Making parents aware of this and making them understand the ultimate scope of our job was really important and not immediately easy. We overcame this by being completely honest and transparent about what we were doing, highlighting that we are parents too and therefore we appreciate how delicate the topic is.

What was your first big breakthrough?

The first big breakthrough was when we realised the potential of this detection algorithm. When we understood how accurate it was, we also understood that we were able to provide parents with a seamless, reliable and trusted solution.

What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?

Being an entrepreneur sounds great but the work that goes into it is much harder than you imagine. You learn a lot about yourself as an individual very quickly. This life is not for everyone and that’s ok. Picking the right partners is just as important as the idea itself.

Where do you want to be in five years’ time?

In five years’ time we see YIPO Technologies (my AI machine language learning company) as one of the leading boutique AI Technology companies creating innovative solutions for families and the world.