Plus-ones are about to get weird. The Protector app, which is like Taskrabbit for private security or Uber with guns, became available in LA and NYC this week, so anyone with a couple grand can hire their own motorcade.
Currently only available on Apple devices, the app hovering around the 14th spot among free travel apps in the App Store behind Uber, Lyft, and most airlines’ apps (it’s beating Spirit). Protector requires users to pay an annual $129 member fee for the ability to book former and active duty law enforcement officers to drive them around.
- The app charges at least $200 an hour for one driver and one guard, and you have to book for at least five hours.
- It also lets users select the attire for the bodyguards: business casual, business formal, or tactical casual—but no rogue western option.
The startup was founded by 25-year-old Nick Sarath, who also runs the neighborhood rent-a-cop app Patrol. Nikita Bier, a former Meta project manager and the creator of the teen social network Gas, said he advised on the app.
Big picture: Following the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Sarath posted that Protector would be rushed to market. Last year, another “Uber with guns” service called BlackWolf said it would expand into Texas, its fourth state since it was founded in 2023.—MM
This report was originally published by Morning Brew.