Glenn Shimkus twice had to evacuate his North Naples home because of approaching wildfires or a hurricane. Both times the experience left the digital entrepreneur shaken.  

Shimkus decided to do something about it by creating Prisidio software company. Prisidio’s app gives customers one-stop digital storage for personal documents and a place to inventory valuables.  

“Prisidio is two words, merged,” Shimkus said. “Presidio, which is basically Latin for fortress or garrison and then [the first three letters of privacy] because it’s your most important, sensitive information. So, we blended privacy and presidio to Prisidio.”  

Passports, birth certificates, marriage licenses, mortgage information, wills and trusts and even records of collectibles– with video descriptions–can be stored on Prisidio. Those items also can be shared, at the owner’s discretion, with loved ones, friends, family members and/or financial advisors.  

“We want to help people get prepared, because people don’t know what’s going to happen,” Shimkus said. “Those are things we’re just not prepared for.”  

The Maui, Hawaii, wildfires are just the latest natural disaster that makes Prisidio relevant, Shimkus said. As a disaster approaches, there’s no need to gather documents. Clients can simply evacuate, knowing they have copies stored in Prisidio, he said.  

The service costs $12 a month or $120 per year.  

Prisidio went with a soft launch two years ago and made the product available to the public last fall. Only now is the company beginning to market the product. AARP is sharing news of the app with its members. Celebrities, including actors Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy and Kyle Richards of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” are investing in it, Shimkus said.  

“When I talk to people about Prisidio, everybody understands what it is we’re doing,” Shimkus said. “And quite frankly, everyone says, ‘I need that.’ But the problem is, it becomes next week, next month, next year, because I’ve got a lot going on. And then you see these things happen, like the wildfires.   

“Prisidio, a key value for us is the ability to securely get something to somebody else, whether it’s today, down the road or if something happens to you. That’s where we help you, through that entire spectrum.”  

For 30 years, Shimkus has been involved in securing documents with various companies. He sold Cartavi, which helped real estate professionals manage and share documents, to DocuSign in 2013. A decade later, Shimkus decided to start something new. He has grown Prisidio to 16 full-time employees.  

“It’s highly secure,” Shimkus said, “but it’s as easy as social media.  

“Prisidio is a secure, digital vault. It’s intended for families and individuals to help them hold together their most important information—and then share it with loved ones and trusted advisors. You can almost think of it as the evolution of the digital safe. The safety deposit box for the digital age.”