Pictured above: (l-r) Nicolas Holzer, Director at QRky; Annette King, Innovation Manager at Digital Birmingham; Simon Mcann, Director at QRky

Established in June 2010, Birmingham based QRky has positioned itself at the forefront of innovative technology. Its bar-coded Quick Response (QR) business cards are fastly becoming a key talking point across business, digital, tech and event sectors, allowing contact details to be easily downloaded straight to your address book.

Taking the 400 year old business card into the 21st century, the QR technology utilises a unique barcode to store data. By downloading an application for your smart phone and scanning the barcode you can immediately download the content from the card which includes text, images, audio and visual. This data is then stored to your phone ready for future use.

Since the development of this unique application of the QR code, QRky has begun investigating how it can be rolled out to the market on a larger scale. To aid in the growth of the company, QRky took advantage of the Entrepreneurs for the Future scheme (e4f) which is funded by Birmingham City Council and Be Birmingham through the Working Neighbourhoods Fund. 

The scheme, which is based at Birmingham Science Park Aston, aids the next generation of entrepreneurs deliver commercial success. By offering six months free office space at the science park, young businesses are able to build an office infrastructure and support network with other entrepreneurs, encouraging collaborations and knowledge transfers between universities and businesses.

As QRky's placement came to an end on the e4f scheme, the team decided to look into alternative funding to aid in the growth of their business. QRky also received support from the Working Neighbourhoods Fund via the Business Feasibility grant. They were awarded £3,000 to go towards a number of costs including rent, bills and moving costs.

Nicolas Holzerr, Director of QRky said: "We've been blown away by the response from Birmingham businesses with regards to our QR business cards.  They love our innovative approach and how easy it is to download the content from a business card straight to your phone. We all know how much of a chore it is to manually input the contact details of 20 people you've met at a networking event. Our products aim to minimise both the fuss and time it takes to store this data.

"November saw us asked by organisers of the 2-day digital conference, The Annual WM ICT Cluster Conference, to provide QR name badges for over 600 delegates. This was a fantastic opportunity for us, one that has lead onto a wealth of new clients.

"Birmingham City Council has been incredibly supportive throughout the whole transition. The QR business card concept stemmed out of experimentation with QR codes in the first business we founded when leaving University which placed advertisements on the side of paper coffee cups. With a lot of help and support we have now established a business model that will see the company move from strength to strength. The funding received from the Council has proven instrumental in the growth of our business.

"There is no doubt that times are tough for businesses however there is support out there, you just have to look for it."

Councillor Timothy Huxtable, Cabinet Member for Transport & Regeneration for Birmingham City Council said: "QRky is a perfect example of young and enthusiastic entrepreneurs making the most of what's available. It is clear that Nicolas is passionate about his company and its future. The funds they have received will provide a stepping stone in the expansion of the business, allowing QRky to focus on its products and services as opposed to where the next amount of funding will come from.

"QRky are one of many companies who have applied and been granted funding as part of the Working Neighbourhoods Fund. Companies supported have ranged from cafés and manufacturers to marketing and professional services.