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Posted by Fiona Rotherham, Unlimited Magazine on 1 October 2008
Nick Willis is using fresh investment to get his Bluetooth key technology for cellphones before a wider market.
Nick Willis of ECKey was already discussing second-round funding with angel investors when he entered last year’s Investment Challenge, run by Unlimited and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI). He wasn’t just seeking money; he wanted UK contacts that would open doors there to manufacturing his Bluetooth key technology. The UK is one market – along with Australia, the US, Germany, France and Spain – that research has shown has a high penetration of Bluetooth-enabled cellphones. Originally the plan was to use the UK as a base for selling into Europe, but the thinking now is to attack it on a country-by-country basis.
ECKey attracted many of the Investment Challenge investors; Willis has the attitude they like of being focused on developing the business rather than just the technology. In fact, he began his business before knowing what it was going to be. In early 2005 he had been working as a project manager in telecommunications and after nine years wanted out. He set up a company and then searched for an idea. It came via a news story about cellphones replacing everything you carry in your handbag. “I thought, ‘What else do you carry around in your handbag? You carry your keys and your security card."
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