One-stop password shop My1login aims to go global with £250,000 backing

AN INTERNET start-up in Glasgow is targeting global growth after securing £250,000 in funding from Scottish Enterprise.

My1login, which provides a single secure access point for all password-protected websites, will receive the money in tranches as it progresses with plans to create 25 jobs.

Founder and managing director Mike Newman said: “It’s a very strong endorsement of our business plan and our product.”

Newman, a former manager in the telecoms industry, said he has been interested in IT since learning to program his Spectrum ZX at the age of 12 in 1983, when he also harboured aspirations to become an entrepreneur.

Realising that many people now have as many as 50 different logins and passwords to remember, he hit on the idea of creating a highly encrypted “safety deposit box within a vault” that would allow one-click access to sites such as Amazon, Facebook or even online banking.

Newman worked on developing My1login in his spare time for three years and also hired a developer, funding the project himself. In November he gave up his job to concentrate on the venture full time and the product was launched last week.

Based in an incubator unit at Glasgow University, the company is offering its basic version for free thanks to advertising revenues and is then encouraging customers to upgrade to a paid-for version of its software.

“Funds are tight so we are having to be innovative about marketing,” Newman says.