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Meadoweb to offer remote IT support

Published: 16 Apr 2004 13:05 BST

A small UK technology start-up called Meadoweb is using enterprise funding to try to build a business offering remote IT management of PCs, initially focusing on the legal profession.

There are plenty of off-the-shelf applications available that provide remote management and diagnostics of PCs, but the company says it has developed software to encrypt the traffic between the customer and the support technician, as well as to both manage and record the support session to help in employee training.

The company was started by Kundan Misra and Charlie Wang, two former University of Warwick students, with funding from the university's Enterprise Fellowship Scheme (EFS).

Meadoweb offers a free three-month trial, and charges a small monthly subscription fee for the service. Misra said that the founders had looked at venture capital financing, but that it made sense to use enterprise funding to build a real customer base first.

"We would like to get venture capital, but we think we'd be in a better position once we've got 1,000 users. We'll iron out the problems, and then go for venture funding," he said.

EFS is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Mercia Institute of Enterprise, and claims it was the first scheme of its kind in England when launched by The University of Warwick and Coventry University. It now covers the universities of Central England in Birmingham, Keele, Staffordshire and Wolverhampton.

Applicants need to prove they have the time and commitment to develop an innovative, technology-led idea. They must be able to demonstrate the potential of their plan and must be willing to set up any resulting business in the West Midlands.