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Bitwards
Develops digital access solutions that allow companies, communities, and individuals to leverage the digital transformation in a keyless world
- Mobile Apps, SaaS, Smart City
- Series A
Location
Helsinki, Finland
Revenue size
EUR 500,000 - 999,999
Year founded
2016
Funding raised
EUR 2,500,000
Founders
Eljas Saastamoinen, Niklas Kaustinen, Jan-Erik Ekberg, Pekka Laitinen
Most relevant investors
Finnish private equity investors and Business Finland
Team size
10-19
Problem
Physical locks and keys have been gatekeepers for secure access for hundreds of years. Today's demands for flexible utilization of spaces however, have raised a high need for secure keyless digital access solutions. As lock manufacturers are solving this need with proprietary solutions, Bitwards offers an open technology and platform providing a standardized access method to all lock manufacturers, security integrator companies, real estate owners and their customers offering interoperability across different lock brands and access systems.
SOLUTION
Bitwards seeks to digitize the estimated 40 billion doors globally by converting users' mobile phones into digital keys, which provides easy and secure keyless access to real estate, spaces and other physical assets. Their SaaS platform offers customers a comprehensive on-demand cloud based access control for managing keyless access for their customers in real time without having to share or manage any physical keys or credentials.
KEY CUSTOMERS AND INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE
Bitwards’ solution is mainly targeted towards large companies and organizations with many users, but is also applicable to private homes. The solution has already been adopted by large customers such as the Aalto University in Helsinki and University of Helsinki, who employ the solution to allow their over 20,000 students and employees access to desired spaces and assets such as doors, elevators, machines, lockers and cabinets.
Bitwards is currently operationally active in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Central and Southern Europe. Bitwards is now looking to expand their activities to the US, Asia (Japan and SEA) and Australia / NZ.
Team
The founders Eljas Saastamoinen and Niklas Kaustinen have a long background in development and creation of modern IT-services and products. The founders held key R&D positions in a Finnish Access Control Systems manufacturer, which was acquired by the world's largest lock manufacturing company AssaAbloy in 2016. The co-founders have a long track record in Mobile Security and NFC payment technology development from the Nokia Research Center. They still hold key positions in mobile software development in a global telecommunications system company and participate actively in the Bitwards R&D work.
Unique selling point
Bitwards’ solution is built upon a unique cryptographic token-based technology, which can easily be adapted to any smart lock, and allows the solution to function offline as well as online, while offering complete access control and highly secure access for the end users. The system only needs smart locks at each door that communicate with the phones using Bluetooth or NFC technology. The smart tokens contain the needed information for complete lock control and guest access management.
Asia Connection
The global security integrator companies distributing the Bitwards’ solution, also serve customers in Asia. Bitwards is looking for additional distribution partners, hardware (lock) manufacturers and clients throughout the East Asian region.
Pitch
