Keychain, a New York-headquartered startup that helps consumer brands find manufacturers, has raised $30 million in new funding.

Keychain runs its core engineering operations in Gurugram, with plans to double its India-based team from 35 to 70 employees in the coming months.

The company’s platform, launched in February 2024, is used by over 20,000 brands and retailers, including 7-Eleven and Whole Foods, to find manufacturing partners.

Keychain said it also has over 30,000 manufacturers on the platform, with hundreds paying for access.

The new funding brings Keychain’s total raised to US$68 million, with Wellington Management leading the latest round.

Keychain currently serves clients in the US and Canada, and is planning to enter additional markets later this year.

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🔗 Source: TechCrunch

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Strategic talent arbitrage drives startup scaling beyond traditional outsourcing

Keychain’s approach reflects a broader shift where U.S. startups are building core development capabilities in India rather than simply outsourcing discrete projects.

The company is doubling its India-based engineering team from 35 to 70 employees in Gurugram, representing half of its 70-person global workforce despite serving only Western markets1.

This mirrors the strategic advantage that India’s talent pool provides. The country produces over 1.5 million engineering graduates annually and maintains a workforce of more than 5 million software engineers23.

The economics are compelling: Indian developers cost 30-60% less than their U.S. counterparts, allowing startups like Keychain to build larger, more specialized teams for the same budget2.

Unlike traditional outsourcing models focused on cost arbitrage, Keychain’s founders specifically chose India for “talent depth, availability, and speed of access,” treating it as a strategic development hub rather than a cost center1.

2️⃣ India’s engineering ecosystem enables continuous development cycles for global companies

The time zone advantage allows companies like Keychain to maintain near-continuous development cycles, with India-based teams working while U.S. teams sleep.

India’s outsourcing sector is projected to reach $12 billion by 2025, with the country holding 17.58% of the global IT outsourcing market share2.

This “follow-the-sun” model enhances project agility and productivity, as teams can hand off work across time zones for faster iteration cycles4.

For Keychain, this approach supports their ambitious product roadmap, including the development of KeychainOS, an AI-powered operating system competing against traditional ERP systems like Oracle and SAP1.

The combination of talent availability and operational continuity has made cities like Gurugram and Bengaluru preferred locations for U.S. startups building distributed teams, with over 500,000 new engineering graduates entering India’s market annually2.

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