Member Case Study: QikID

Startup Tasmania member Daniel Harrison recently launched QikID, giving us a preview of the new product at the Startup Tasmania end of year function. QikID is a biometric identification service with broad application in a diverse range of sectors where quick, cheap identification of individuals is mandatory for their business model. Officially incorporated (and more impressively capitalised) on 1  November 2011, pre-capital funding was $300K; with stage 1 funding committed over 2012 at $1M.   QikID currently have 3 high-skill Tasmanian employees, all proudly Alumni of the University of Tasmania, and demonstrating that innovation and fast growth start-up companies are as at home in Tasmania as they are in Silicon Valley.

QikID has exclusive license to develop its Biometric Identification Service stemming for world wide usage based on granted patents in countries including AU, US, CA, UK, FR, DE, IT, SG, NZ & JP — a critical element of the company’s value and market protection.

QikID at its core is a generic and adaptable identification service that could be potentially used for thousands of distinct applications.   In order to get the service into the market QikID are currently focussed on developing a number of services for specific vertical markets:

• QikID have identified a need in the education sector in solving the problem of quickly and accurately identifying students sitting examinations to prevent fraud.   The service will be delivered using iPhones and integrated with existing university infrastructure to ensure easy rollout.
• QikID have identified a significant market need in large entertainment venues such as casinos, pubs & clubs in identifying individuals with a history of violence or anti-social behaviour that, aside from disruption to business and brand damage, can result in trading penalties being imposed.
• Casinos and Clubs/Venues also need to be able to identify patrons with high value to ensure that appropriate VIP service is provided, as well as track activity and identify potential problems with their frequent gamblers.

QikID has conducted extensive market research prior to market entry, revealing that based on extremely conservative market penetration rates of 1.5%, for only the Australian Market (patents are granted in 13 countries), there is sufficient revenue available to make the business profitable based purely on Pubs and Clubs sector.

QikID’s services are designed to be low-touch, easy to use and intuitive, using readily available ubiquitous hand held devices.   Clients will be able to setup an account and start using the service by simply buying the required number of iPhones, downloading the QikID app and putting in their credit card number.   This low barrier to entry enables QikID to scale services very quickly, both for domestic and international market demand.

QikID has given special consideration to the privacy of users and the security of the data both in flight and at rest.   A number of innovative measures are embedded in the technology and process to guarantee the privacy of individuals.

Not only is the technology proven and the company already generating significant interest, access to a key target market is available, with the principal investor in QikID owning 3 significant entertainment ventures employing some 400 staff in Sydney, where QikID will be beta testing in March 2012. Startup Tasmania is proud to count Dan as one of its foundation members, and congratulate him for his recent win at the Tasmanian ICT awards in the emerging technology category, along with his win of the 2011 Peacey Award.