NEW YORK — Keychain, the manufacturing platform for the packaged goods industry, has raised $15 million in Series A funding led by BoxGroup. New investors included General Mills’ venture capital arm 301 INC and Schreiber while existing investors included Lightspeed Venture Partners and SV Angel.
Keychain was founded by Oisin Hanrahan, chief executive officer; Umang Dua, chief operating officer; and Jordan Weitz, co-founder. Hanrahan and Dua previously founded startup home service repair company Angi before founding Keychain. Weitz was in the private equity and venture capital sectors before joining Keychain.
In March, the company unveiled its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered manufacturing platform for the packaged goods industry, which enables companies and retailers to identify, select and manage manufacturer partners.
The platform also aims to help companies navigate the manufacturing process from competitive intelligence and manufacturer sourcing to terms negotiation, onboarding and compliance, the company said.
Through the platform, companies and retailers may be able to search for any product in the search bar, which then pulls up product varieties and the manufacturer that may produce them, according to Keychain.
In December, Keychain raised $18 million in seed funding to accelerate the launch of the platform. The fundraises bring the company’s total funding to $33 million, according to the company.
“Keychain’s first product, our search-and-discovery platform, is now working at scale for US-based food and beverage brands, retailers and manufacturers,” Hanrahan said. “This has happened much faster than we expected. From here we’re excited to build a deep set of AI-powered workflow tools to help our brand and retail partners bring products to market faster. In addition, you can expect an announcement on new verticals and geographies soon.”
Other Keychain supporters include such companies as The Hershey Co. and Rich Products.
“When we first got involved in Keychain, the enormous opportunity to help organize and support domestic manufacturing was obvious,” said David Tisch, managing partner at BoxGroup. “What we’ve come to appreciate in the last few months is the incredibly important role Keychain will play in shaping global CPG (consumer packaged goods) trade, and the import and export of food, materials and packaging. From sovereign funds to commodity exchanges to certification agencies, they all have a clear, strategic reason to want a relationship with Keychain.”
Paul Gallagher, chief supply chain officer at General Mills, added, “General Mills invested in Keychain because our team finds the product complements and accelerates our digital transformation work. We’re constantly looking for new ways to increase the efficiency of our supply chain workflows, and it's rare that our team finds a product that they are universally positive about using. We believe Keychain is going to change how the CPG industry works to advance the contract manufacturing industry.”Enjoying this content? Learn about more disruptive startups on the Food Entrepreneur page.
