Founders Story
Digital Keys is a leading provider of smart access control solutions for enhanced safety, security, and smarter business operations. Our expertise lies in 5G IoT Smart Access - a revolutionary new approach to building management that leverages cutting-edge technology to enable devices such as locks and alarms to communicate and interact with each other over the internet, making them remotely monitorable and controllable by people via software, apps, or AI systems.
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The story of our founding begins with Steve Dunn, our co-founder and CEO, who faced access control challenges at his local council workplace and home. After an unsuccessful search for mobile phone unlocking solutions that met council requirements and could be used in his apartment, Steve collaborated with property owners and lock manufacturers to develop our first digital keys app in 2011.
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His success in a university innovation competition paved the way for Steve to assemble a team of engineers and marketing students, with whom he participated in the Licencing Executives Society Annual Entrepreneurship Competition. The team finished as runner-up, beating teams from prestigious universities such as Harvard, Stanford, and Yale.
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The team's success generated strong interest in our digital keys app from hotels and resorts. Consequently, the founders worked tirelessly to incorporate additional features such as a complete end-to-end automated web-check-in system. To support product development, Digital Keys was accepted into the 10x Accelerator Program at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH, USA. The year 2016 marked a turning point for us, as our founders recognized the potential of Narrowband IoT (NB IoT) technology to secure and ensure the reliability of access control systems that connect to the internet.
In 2017 and 2018, the Digital Keys team built an NB IoT smart access control system that delivers the most secure, reliable, and affordable solution to the physical security industry. Our solution gained significant traction in the UK and earned us an R&D grant from the European Commission. Our innovative technology has been recognized as being useful in various verticals and industries.
Consequently, Digital Keys developed a complete end-to-end smart access solution that includes an IoT platform, APIs, digital keys apps, asset management software, and 5G IoTsmart locks.
The IoT platform and APIs enable the smartification of many more security products and services, ensuring they can safely connect to the internet.
