A TECH-SAVVY award-winning entrepreneur has grown a multi-million pound software company with customers around the world - all from his Blunsdon bedroom.

Peter von Oven founded Droplet Computing after bagging a £2 million investment in 2015 and now works with clients across the globe from a home office.

He said: “I used to work as an IT guy in big American software companies and customers kept coming to me with the same problem and there was no solution for it.

“They could not use some of the apps on their laptops when not connected to the internet and I did not have enough of a voice in the company to suggest ways to fix this.

“I saw an opportunity and a gap in the market for a business that could help with this issue and knew there were customers who would be interested in that, so I set about finding funding to make this feasible.

“Pitching my idea to investment companies was like going on Dragon’s Den but scarier and with much bigger stakes, it’s make-or-break.

“My background has been mainly coming up with ideas and seeing if they’re doable, not running an entire business, so it’s been really exciting but a lot of hard work.

“It’s given me a strong belief that if you stick at something and trust in your team and what you’re selling, you can achieve anything.”

His burgeoning business has already received awards recognition from the British Computer Society.

In 2018, Droplet Computing won a UK innovation and entrepreneurship award for its efforts in making Peter’s business idea a reality, then won an emerging technology award at this year’s ceremony.

Peter added: “We were really surprised and amazed to win because we were up against Intel and BT this time around.

“I have a brilliant team and I’m grateful for all the recognition and support we’ve received.”

Peter’s company employs a small team of 10 employees who all work from home, along with five contacts in the USA, Europe and New Zealand.

He has written 14 IT solutions books, spoken at Swindon schools as a STEM ambassador and is helping his two daughters follow their dreams of becoming engineers.