Can Keychain Be The Missing Link Between Brands And Consumer Goods Manufacturers?

Well, Keychain is New York City's latest bustling startup, which has entered the scene as a heavyweight contender in the consumer-packaged goods (CPGs) world. Keychain is led by former Angi (formerly Angie's List) CEO Oisin Hanrahan; this innovative venture aims to revolutionize how packaged food brands connect with manufacturers. 

Reportedly, this startup is poised to shake things up with a whopping $18 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Box Group, Afore Capital, Ron Conway, and others.

Hanrahan, in a lively video conference interview, unveiled, "What we're doing is building the first true platform and marketplace for CPG (consumer packaged goods) manufacturing." He highlighted their mission of bridging the age-old gap between CPG manufacturing’s demand and supply.

According to Hanrahan, "Retailers and brands have a particular pain point: when you ask them what's the hardest part of running their business they say finding a great manufacturer."

He further highlighted, "There are 20,000 different manufacturers in the U.S. alone and many more different branded products sold on store shelves of major grocery stores, supermarket chains, and retailers."

He realized there has been a "huge shift" over the last decade in the CPGs sold in the US, that is "the rise in the private label. We've seen it in every retailer: Amazon with Amazon Basics, Whole Foods with 365, Costco with Kirkland," Hanrahan explained.

Besides, Keychain is not just another technology giant looking to ride the generative AI hype. Instead, they're leveraging traditional AI with plans for a chatbot that can magically conjure up a list of suitable manufacturers based on specific product requirements. 

"This product would be prohibitively expensive to build without AI," Hanrahan said in an interview. "Without the use of AI in collating, cataloging, and researching all of the millions of products needed to make this comprehensive, and comb through the vast amounts of internal proprietary and external data, it would be prohibitively expensive, frankly, to build this product. So, it's a really important part of what powers Keychain."