Keychain – a manufacturing platform for the packaged goods industry – announced that it has raised $15 million in new funding. The funding round was led by BoxGroup, with support from major food companies General Mills and Schreiber, and existing investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, and SV Angel.
About a year after announcing $18 million in seed funding, Keychain already enabled over 20,000 brands and retailers to search for manufacturers using Keychain’s AI-powered platform. And this brings Keychain’s total funding to $33 million. Before Keychain, the search and discovery process was time-intensive and convoluted, preventing brands, retailers, and manufacturers from reaching their full potential.
Keychain is digitizing an industry that previously operated completely offline and currently helps facilitate over $500 million in projects each month. And the company also received support from leading CPG brands, like the Hershey Company, Rich Products, and most recently General Mills’ venture capital arm, 301 INC, who are confident in Keychain’s ability to support the evolution of the manufacturing ecosystem.
Keychain will continue building its depth in the US food and beverage manufacturing ecosystem. And Keychain is building the platform for all CPG manufacturing globally.
KEY QUOTES:
“Keychain’s first product, our search and discovery platform, is now working at scale for US-based food and beverage brands, retailers, and manufacturers. 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.”
– Oisin Hanrahan, Cofounder and CEO of Keychain
“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.”
– Paul Gallagher, chief supply chain officer, General Mills
“When we first got involved in Keychain, the enormous opportunity to help organize and support domestic manufacturing was obvious. What we’ve come to appreciate in the last few months is the incredibly important role Keychain will play in shaping global CPG 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.”
– David Tisch, Managing Partner at BoxGroup
