The company Amber Charging Station, which makes charging stations for cell phones, got some attention after it was on Shark Tank. Amber was started by Bill Shuey and Kyle Byrd. It sells safe, self-locking charging units for phones that can be used in public places like museums, theaters, and restaurants. The business tried to get a $200,000 investment in exchange for 20% of the company on Shark Tank, but failed to make a deal.
During Shark Tank, Amber was worth about $1 million, but new information shows that its real Amber Charging Station net worth is only about $500,000. The way the business is set up lets venues buy units all at once or rent them out regularly. Investors aren’t sure about the design and cost of Amber’s product, but the company still sells it to places that want to attract and keep customers by making things easier and safer.
Quick Bio
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Company Name | Amber Charging Station |
| Founders | Bill Shuey (Co-founder & CEO), Kyle Byrd (Co-founder & Product Designer) |
| Industry | Technology – Mobile Phone Charging Stations |
| Product | Secure self-locking public phone charging station using fingerprint scanning |
| Founded | Conceptualized in 2013 |
| Shark Tank Appearance | Season 6, Episode 1 (2014) |
| Shark Tank Ask | $200,000 for 20% equity |
| Valuation at Pitch | Approximately $1,000,000 |
| Business Model | Sales or leasing of charging units to public venues (restaurants, theaters, bars, airports) |
| Outcome on Shark Tank | No deal secured |
| Current Status | No longer in business as of around 2015 |
| Notable Challenges | High production costs (~$1,000/unit), concerns about fingerprint scanner reliability, difficulty scaling product |
| Founders’ Background | Bill Shuey was a political science student at James Madison University; Kyle Byrd was a product design student at the same university |
| Family Info | Not publicly available |
Amber Charging Station Net Worth in 2025
When Amber Charging Station was first pitched on Shark Tank in 2014, it was worth about $1 million based on its valuation at the time. The business plan was to sell or rent secure self-locking phone charging stations for public places. However, this Amber Charging Station company isn’t said to be operating anymore, and its valuation and net worth have stayed around that amount in the past.
It is important to tell this apart from other Amber-named companies that work in the energy and technology industries. As of 2025, Amber Holding Subsidiary Co., which owns a lot of shares in Activision Blizzard, is thought to be worth more than $40 billion. Another company, Amber Electric, an Australian energy retailer that focuses on renewables, just raised $45 million to improve its charging system for batteries and electric vehicles. These businesses are not the same as the Amber Charging Station product that was pitched on Shark Tank.
So, the “Amber Charging Station” company started by Bill Shuey and Kyle Byrd’s estimated net worth stays between $500,000 and $1 million from its mid-2010s value. There have been no recent changes that suggest the business will grow significantly or be valued as an active one in 2025.
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Business Ventures and Income Sources
The founders of Amber Charging Station, Bill Shuey and Kyle Byrd, first wanted to make a safe way for people to charge their phones in public places. Their 2014 Shark Tank idea got them some attention. However, the company did not get any funding from the show and had to deal with problems like high production costs and doubts about the fingerprint scanner’s dependability. Bill Shuey has mostly stopped being an entrepreneur since Amber. He has worked in sales, including since around 2016 at Long Fence and Home, a family-owned home repair business.
After Amber, Kyle Byrd became more interested in business and product creation. After working for a short time as a teacher, he went on to different product design roles and senior positions at tech companies. In 2022, he co-founded The Uncertainty Project, a resource and group that focuses on business strategy in uncertain times. Byrd also became the head of product at Dotwork and a limited partner at Adventure Fund, an investment company. He has kept working with startups and new technologies. For example, he pitched a new 3D printer software company called Printocracy.
Real State Ownership and Properties
There is no public information that directly lists the real estate that co-founder of Amber Charging Station Bill Shuey owns or holds. Though, there are mentions to other people with the names Bill or William Shuey who work as real estate agents or lawyers, but these people don’t seem to be related to the founders of Amber.
The most important fact about this is that Bill Shuey has been working in sales for Long Fence and Home, a family-owned home improvement company, since about 2016. However, neither he nor his co-founder Kyle Byrd are known to own any specific real estate or properties from this job or any other.
Personal Life
When it comes to his personal life, Bill Shuey, co-founder of Amber Charging Station, has kept a low profile. There isn’t much information about his family or personal relationships that is known to the public. After Amber’s business had problems and had to close around 2015, he stopped being an entrepreneur and now works in sales for a family-owned home improvement company. As of 2025, the public doesn’t have access to any detailed information about his personal life, family history, or real estate holdings. Only these professional facts are available.
Kyle Byrd, who co-founded Amber and designed its products, has also focused on his work in product design and business since leaving Amber, but details about his personal or family life are not made public. Both founders seem to keep their personal and family lives out of the public eye. Instead, the focus of the public’s attention is on their businesses and jobs after “Shark Tank.”
Career Journey
In late 2013, Bill Shuey’s job path was sparked by a personal event: his phone battery died out of the blue at a restaurant. He came up with the idea for Amber Charging Station, a safe way for people to charge their phones in public, while he was a political science student at James Madison University (JMU). A student in product design at JMU named Kyle Byrd helped him come up with the idea for the product and the business plan. In 2014, their business Amber went on Season 6 of Shark Tank, asking for $200,000 in exchange for 20% of the company.
After Shark Tank, Amber tried to change direction by lowering prices and switching to a pay-per-use strategy, but the market didn’t take to it well. Around the end of 2015, Amber Charging Station stopped running. Its website and social media accounts stopped working. Bill Shuey moved from being an entrepreneur to more stable sales jobs. He started at Brown’s Car Stores and worked there until 2016. After that, he went to work for a family-owned home improvement company called Long Fence and Home, where he has been working ever since.
Kyle Byrd, on the other hand, worked as a product designer and in tech startups, eventually rising to leadership roles such as co-founding a business strategy group and becoming head of product at tech companies. Both owners learned important lessons about being an entrepreneur from Amber. They learned how to make sure their products were ready for market, test the market, and model their businesses.
Struggles with Mental Health, Addiction & Homelessness
Some people have linked the founders of Amber Charging Station, Bill Shuey and Kyle Byrd, to mental health problems they had along the way, such as sadness and anxiety. This was especially clear when they were trying to get money on Shark Tank and their goods and business were getting a lot of negative attention from the public. There is, however, no thorough or confirmed public information that either Bill Shuey or Kyle Byrd had serious problems with addiction or homelessness.
After appearing on Shark Tank, the founders had a lot of problems at work. Their business went out of business by late 2015, and the public and harsh criticism they received was very hard on them emotionally. However, public records and interviews don’t go into detail about their personal struggles with addiction or homelessness. For example, Bill Shuey has moved on to work in sales, and Kyle Byrd has kept working in tech and product design without letting on about any problems in his personal life.
According to reliable sources, as of 2025, there is no public evidence or more detailed reporting to back the story that Amber Charging Station’s founders had serious problems like addiction or being homeless.
Current Status
As of 2025, Bill Shuey and Kyle Byrd’s company, Amber Charging Station, is no longer in business. Even though they got a lot of attention when they were on Shark Tank in 2014, the product had problems, like high production costs (around $1,000 per unit) and doubts about how reliable the fingerprint reader was. The business had trouble growing, and it shut down around 2015. Its website and social media accounts have since been deleted. Even though Amber got some funding outside of Shark Tank, the business couldn’t survive in a competitive market.
It’s important to tell this company apart from other Amber companies that work in the energy and electric vehicle (EV) industries that are not connected. As an example, Amber is a company that deals with smart EV charging and energy retail. They just bought Charge HQ and are now growing in Australia in the areas of renewable energy and EV charge. As of 2025, this Amber was still going strong and growing, but it has nothing to do with the Shark Tank company Amber Charging Station.
Public Perception & Media Coverage
The public and the media had different feelings about Bill Shuey and Kyle Byrd’s company, Amber Charging Station, which was on Season 6 of Shark Tank in 2014. This was mostly because of the problems that came up during and after the pitch.
When Amber went on Shark Tank to ask for $200,000 in exchange for 20% of the company, they showed off a safe phone charging station with fingerprint-locked sections that would be used in public places like airports and bars. The idea was good because it met a need that many people have, which is safe charging for cell phones in public places. But the pitch showed that the company was still not making any money because each unit cost around $1,000 to make, so there were not many profits to be made.
After the show, people had a lot of different feelings about Amber. Some liked her, others didn’t, and some even attacked her personally. The founders thought the show gave them a bad name, especially when it came to how serious and ready for business they seemed. Even though Amber worked hard to make the product better and cut costs by a lot, it was still hard to change people’s minds about it at first. Around the end of 2015, the business stopped running, and its social media and website stopped working.
The news stories focused on both the creative idea of using biometric security for charging stations and the enterprising energy of the founders, who had just graduated from college. But it also showed how hard it is to start a hardware company, how important it is to make sure your product is ready before asking for money, and how harsh reality is when everyone watches Shark Tank.
FAQs
How much is Amber Charging Station worth?
It was worth about $1 million on Shark Tank, but only about $500,000 after the pitch; it’s no longer in business.
Is Amber Charging Station still in business in Shark Tank?
No, Amber stopped doing business around 2015.
What is an Amber charging station?
A public phone charging station that locks itself for use in places.
Amber Charging Station net worth 2024 vs. 2025: what changed?
Amber stopped doing business years ago, so its cash worth is basically zero.
What was Amber Charging Station’s valuation on Shark Tank?
$1 million is a rough estimate.
How does Amber Charging Station make money?
Pay-per-use methods are being considered for hardware sales and rentals to venues.
Who owns Amber Charging Station?
Founders Bill Shuey and Kyle Byrd; there was no public equity split after Shark Tank.
Conclusion
Amber Charging Station came on the scene with a new way to solve the problem of charging phones in public places: they offer safe, fingerprint-locked machines that are aimed at bars, airports, and other places. Even though the company had a good idea and was featured on Shark Tank, it had to deal with major problems, such as high production costs, competition from free charging options, and slow market growth. Not being able to close a deal on Shark Tank and not being able to make enough money or build a loyal customer base caused the company’s value to drop, and by around 2015, it had stopped running.
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