To follow on from our maiden Tech Invest event, we’ve profiled some of the most exciting technology companies in the UK.

GrowthBusiness has now produced a new 2014 version of Tech Innovators, where we have again profiled some of the best technology ventures in the UK through interviews with founding entrepreneurs.

my1login

Based in: Glasgow Founded in: 2007 No. of employees: 6 Company founder: Michael Newman

Founder profile:

Mike Newman has almost 20 years’ experience in the telecoms and internet sector, holding a variety of plc-based leadership roles spanning marketing, sales, product development, operations and acquisitions. Previous experience includes roles within Scottish Telecom, THUS and Cable & Wireless. He is a chartered engineer and member of the IET.

Background business profile:

my1login solves the problem of password management, enabling employees and individuals to only have to remember one secure login. Unlike traditional ‘single sign-on’ solutions, my1login requires no integration with third-party services and so provides a holistic, cloud solution to managing all business passwords, improving security and productivity while reducing cost.

Inside track:

Like most entrepreneurs, Mike Newman’s breakthrough point came through a moment of frustration.

It was whilst having to come up with another set of unique login details as part of an employee shares scheme that Newman realised he was now probably in possession of 20 or so work passwords.

Having established that there were no dominant competitor offerings out there, he then set about finding out the technological barriers that would have to be overcome.

The business then went out and got its first round of funding, a process which took in excess of 12 months to secure.

‘We managed to leverage government support,’ Newman reveals, ‘and the lesson there was about being creative.

‘If I was giving advice to people, it would be to not get hung up on one source of funding – take a creative blend of funding, grants and equity matching schemes.’

The Glasgow-based start-up’s main differentiator, and there are now other players in the market, is that its platform is much more secure.

While others allow users to access all of their details with just a username and password, my1login does not believe that is secure enough and has a two-step process.

Market validation, and the kudos that brings with it, is a key target for the coming year. This will allow the business to prove that revenue can be derived and relied upon in the long term.

‘We’ve had over 300 businesses sign up for the business product in the last three months so we are delighted with that.

‘However, we want to accelerate our sales and marketing drive further into the SME market.’

Investors:

• Scottish Investment Bank
• Equity Gap (angel syndicate)
• Tri Capital (angel syndicate)
• A number of private business angels

Related: 25 of the most exciting fast growing technology companies in the UK