10 years ago, founder and CEO Curtis Chan, was designing and developing mobile games for the gaming industry. Everything was smooth sailing, however, he noticed a reoccurring issue: hackers trying to steal users’ account details. Whilst developing his own games, Curtis spent much of his free time brainstorming various ways in which to protect and verify user identity. Realizing that online identity protection would only become a bigger issue moving forward — as businesses are becoming more digitalized —, Curtis began to put a plan in order.
Curtis had an epiphany: he could use the existing mobile network, which already has a global infrastructure in place...
The year is now 2012 — Curtis Chan has just established PolyDigi Ltd, Hong Kong to conduct further research into authentication methodology.
— Yes, he still produces his own mobile games as well.
In 2013, Curtis entered the Science Park Incubation Program to further improve his research and product. The first game he built from scratch accumulated over 12 million downloads; yet again, it soon fell under attack from hackers trying to breach its security. Enough was enough. From then on, Curtis decided to completely shift his focus to developing an authentication technology, designed to improve cybersecurity and online identity verification for asset protection.
Fast-forward to 2015 — Alexander Chow (now the sitting COO) joins forces with Curtis Chang. Together, they obtain their first patent for their authentication technology. What was once a dream has now become a reality. They begin by setting their sights on the one industry that requires only the best of the best when it comes to multi-factor authentication to protect their end-users: the banking sector.
After conducting some in-depth research, it became apparent that additional technology would be required in order to partner with the banking sector. As such, a second patent was applied for.
In 2018, the duo decided to enter a “hackathon” organized by the Bank of China (Hong Kong). As a result of the competition, PolyDig Tech’s technology was endorsed by the Bank of China and won an award for Outstanding Network Security System — the outcome of which led to worldwide exposure and attention.
In 2018, PolyDigi Tech took part in the UK FinTech Awards, put on by the Department for International Trade (DIT), and won the Gold Prize. This marked the beginning of yet another exciting chapter.
Following praise from the DIT, PolyDigi Tech was invited by the government of the UK to explore their market, essentially opening the door to the global market. That settled it — together with Monika Ohashi and Yves Segovia, Curtis and Alexander solidified the founding of PolyDigi Tech and moved their company to the UK.
In 2019, PolyDigi Tech was granted their second patent and was accepted into The Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) Accelerator Program.
In November 2019, PolyDigi Tech Ltd.’s headquarters is established in Edinburgh, Scotland, home to one of the most secure, regulated, and competitive banking environments in the world — only the best for client and company would suffice.
Since setting up headquarters in Scotland, a lot has happened. To commercialize and further develop our technology, we’ve partnered with three prestigious Scottish universities. In February 2020, we secured a £200,000 Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant, from Scottish Enterprise, to create a technology hub in Edinburgh, creating 16 new jobs.
At the end of February 2020, CIO Monika Ohashi won the 2020 AccelerateHER Awards Rising Star Award, which recognizes a female company founder with exceptional potential.
In June 2020, we secured a place on the first CENSIS’s IoT cybersecurity accelerator program, with three other ambitious SMEs, receiving support to help our development.
In September 2020, PolyDigi Tech was named “One of the Top Five Most Important Players in Scottish FinTech” by The Scotsman Newspaper, and in October 2020, PolyDigi Tech was ranked 12th place in BusinessCloud’s Scotland Tech 50 rankings of 2020.
PolyDigi Tech Ltd. is looking for further investment and enthusiastic business partners to help us expand and implement our state-of-the-art technology. If you are interested in hearing more about this exciting opportunity, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Sincerely,
—The team at PolyDigi Tech
