Media Kit
View Founders bio, background on Digital Keys, and its products, high res photos and videos
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Steve Dunn
Co-Founder/CEO
Boiler Plate
Digital Keys is an IoT company based in Adelaide, Australia that provides complete end-to-end NB-IoT smart access control solutions. Since 2011, Digital Keys has been building access control solutions with lock manufacturers, hotels, offices, community facilities and leading IoT companies to enable the most secure, the most reliable, the most convenient and most affordable smart access control solution.
Background on the company
Digital Keys started in 2011 as an app for hotel self-check-in with digital keys unlocking. Today Digital Keys is an IoT-based security system company delivering a complete end-to-end NB-IoT smart access control system. IoT smart access is about devices, such as smartlocks and alarms, embedded with electronics, Internet connectivity, and other forms of hardware (such as sensors), communicating and interacting with other devices over the Internet. Digital Keys mission is to disrupt the way companies and buildings secure access to their assets, from using metal keys to using digital keys so they can become more efficient, save money and time and improve management of security, data, and human factor related behavioural risks. Digital Keys team includes hardware and software engineers, designers and developers who are passionate about security and IoT.
FAQ's
What does Digital Keys do?
Digital Keys delivers complete end-to-end NB-IoT smart access control solutions. The solution is made up of smartlocks, digital keys apps, access management software, and a NB-IoT platform with API's
For Whom?
Our products and services are for any company or person that wants to improve the security of their assets, whilst also improving the access control and management efficiencies of their assets.
Why?
We want to digitize the security and control of assets across the globe, so that together we can create a connected society in which people can safely and securely manage their assets as efficiently and successfully as possible with piece of mind.
What is Digital Keys specialty?
Our specialty is getting locks working with new IoT cellular technologies such as NB-IoT and LTE-M. We also place emphasis on being able to customerise our solution and architecture to meet our enterprise customer demands and needs.
Founder's Bio - Steve Dunn
Short Bio (74 words)
STEVE DUNN (MBA, BA) is CEO and cofounder of Digital Keys, a startup that delivers NB IoT smart access control solutions. Since its founding, Steve has led the startup through a number of different accelerators within Asia Pacific, USA, and Europe. He has also led the startup through several iterations and pivots with a variety of IoT technologies, to finally find product-market fit. Steve is also mentor and coach in university-based accelerators and incubators. Steve is co-author of the book 'Startup Accelerators' published by Wiley - the leading global academic publisher.
Long Bio (419 words)
Steve Dunn is an entrepreneur, author and mentor with a passion for IoT and access control. Steve’s fascination with access control began in the early 2000’s, when he was an Asset Manager in Local Government, and he found himself constantly overwhelmed with the management of access to council’s assets such as community centres, swimming pools, sporting stadiums, art galleries, conference centres, and libraries. Being in charge of distributing metal keys to the staff, volunteers, contractors, and community groups to access the properties was time-consuming, expensive and an ongoing security nightmare. It was impossible to know who held a metal key to the assets (keys can be cut for a few dollars in a few minutes at hardware stores), and who was letting themselves in at any time.
Steve was also living an apartment building at the time with magnetic-stripe keycards, and he found the cards demagnetizing on a weekly basis, meaning constant lockouts of his apartment building. He soon learnt that its common for keycards to demagnetize when held against a mobile phone and other magnetized cards such as credit cards. Steve thought there had to be a better way to manage access other than metal keys and keycards.
After facing the aforementioned problems, in his workplace and at home, Steve began investigating mobile phone unlocking solutions in the market but he found zero existing solutions that could meet the council requirements, and for use in his own apartment, so he built his first app with digital keys that interfaced with a smartlock.
At the time Steve was also studying a Masters in Business Administration, and he entered his app in his University’s annual innovation competition and won. He then assembled a team of other engineer and marketing students to become his co-founders, and they entered the prestigious Licencing Executives Society Annual Entrepreneurship Competition, representing his University and beating other teams from Harvard University, Standford and Yale to finish Runner up.
To support the development of their product, Digital Keys was accepted into 3 accelerator programs including Innovyz Accelerator in Adelaide, Australia; The 10x Accelerator Program run out of the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH, USA, and the IoT accelerator run out of H-Farm in Italy. The company has also received R&D grant funding from the Australian Government, and the European Commission.
Steve shares his insights, inspiration and knowledge to students and audiences around the world as a mentor in University Business Plan competitions. Steve has co-athored the book ‘Startup Accelerators’ published by leading global academic publisher Wiley.
