In this second instalment of Inside Wayra we cover the story of PixelPin, the globally scalable Software as a Service (Saas) start-up, which replaces passwords with pictures.
PixelPin was founded by military security expert Brian Taylor. His cross-platform cyber security software will “kill” the password as we know it. The software replaces traditional passwords with personal pictures, which the user ‘unlocks’ by tapping specific points on an image – these can be uploaded and changed at any time.
Brian’s inspiration came from a consultancy role he had at the Metropolitan Police. He saw how difficult the police officers found memorising their monthly changing, three-level, randomly created, fifteen character passwords. Inevitably, they wrote them down meaning that the passwords were redundant from the minute they were generated.
PixelPin’s timing couldn’t be better. 2012 saw a number of cyber security related stories reported in the media. The likes of Tesco, Yahoo and Sony all made the headlines following troubles that they encountered. It is widely accepted by industry experts and journalists alike that cyber security is a key concern for companies and institutions, large and small.
With their fresh approach to security it’s not surprising that PixelPin has been nominated as one of the most innovative mobile start-ups by UKTI and SMART in 2013 and are currently in private Beta trials with a number of firms.
Wayra has played an important supporting role in the success of PixelPin to date. Brian described the provisions that Wayra offered the start-up as, “dying and going to geek heaven.” He said, “money only takes you so far, the advice and mentoring we have received has really made Wayra an invaluable contributor to the growth of our business.”
The team is now five-members strong after the arrivals of co-founder and COO Geoff Anderson, CTO Luke Briner, Business Development Executive Juhi Gore and Chelsea Art School graduate Sarah Bradley, who focuses upon UX and creative.
PixelPin attended the Mobile World Congress this year (25-28 February) as guests of UKTI. They also pitched at Wayra UK’s first Demo Day earlier this month.
Check out their pitch here and visit their website here.
Check out our last ‘Inside Wayra’ blog on TrueView, the new dating app from the UK academy here.