Morgan and Tindall on the phone to open doors

Sam Morgan and The Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall have opened their wallets to Auckland start-up ECkey, which is unlocking the potential of Bluetooth to provide electronic alternatives to the humble house and car key.

The high-profile entrepreneurs have joined venture capital company Sparkbox and angel investment group IceAngels in pumping $1 million of fresh investment into ECkey, founded in 2005 by Cambridge graduate Nick Willis.

Dr Willis has made his first sales of his remote control door locks, which automatically unlock when a Bluetooth device registered to their owner is within range.

The Master Locksmith Association of Australia has bought 400 to distribute within Australia and New Zealand, and 100 have been sold to distributors in the United States. They are expected to retail for US$289 (NZ$362) and will be on sale in New Zealand next month.

ECkey has been selected as one of five finalists for "access control product of the year" at the IFSEC security awards in Britain, where the Bluetooth locks will also go on sale next month.

"People are making the transition from the wallet being the most important thing they carry around with them to the phone," says Dr Willis. "A phone can do everything else, why can't it open a door as well? People who take their phone everywhere they go are the type of people who are interested in it.

"The other group are the handicapped. And people who want to avoid doing the `technology haka' when they leave for work - patting their pockets and checking they have got everything with them. If they can have one less thing to check it makes it easier."

Dr Willis says the market is huge. "There are a billion Bluetooth chips out there, and there are more than a billion locks." People may still need a key "under the bush", or a charger in their car, in case their phone runs flat.

Mr Morgan, who worked with Dr Willis in his first job at Deloitte in the 1990s, says he invested in ECkey largely because of that relationship. "We are friends and he is a smart guy. He has developed a good product and has been flying around the world marketing it and it all looks pretty positive.

"I don't think it is going to obsolete keys, but I think there will definitely be applications for the technology. It is not clear at the moment which market will be the biggest one for him, but the technology is sufficiently interesting for there to be several potential large markets and only one of them really has to come off."

A version for car doors is in the wings and talks are taking place with car manufacturers. ECkey may also replace swipecards in access control systems.

Dr Willis has taken out a worldwide patent. Stephen Tindall now owns about 7 per cent of ECkey, Sam Morgan 5 per cent and Sparkbox and the Government's Venture Investment Fund jointly own 40 per cent.

- © Fairfax NZ News