Greg Marsh, CEO of KeyMe, wants his company to become the most trusted name in locksmithing. The key duplication service, which offers a convenient alternative to calling up a guy with a drill in the middle of the night, now has 3,000 locations in 72 different retailers, such as IKEA, Rite Aid and Bed Bath & Beyond.
In large part, that growth has been fueled by a steady flow of venture capital from top-tier investors such as BlackRock, Comcast Ventures, and Questmark Partners.
This week Brentwood Associates joined the pack, leading a $35 million round of funding that will help KeyMe triple its footprint to 10,000 locations — though that’s only part of the startup’s plans.
“Our big goal is really to build the first-ever brand in the $12 billion locksmith industry,” Marsh told Cheddar.
KeyMe’s kiosks are self-service machines that allow customers to quickly fabricate keys that they’ve already uploaded and stored in a database using their phones. While technology watchers have raised security concerns about the process, Marsh says it offers a better alternative to the “massively fraudulent” and often unreliable locksmith industry.
Indeed, it was a shady, late-night encounter with a locksmith in New York City during his time in business school that gave Marsh the idea for the company.
Marsh also noted that KeyMe isn’t just in the kiosk business. It also wants to create a network of “highly-vetted” locksmiths who are available to customers on an on-call basis.
“Sales from the kiosk are the majority, but we have close to 100,000 customers per month who are coming to KeyMe for some kind of locksmith service,” Marsh said. “A majority of those, about 75 percent, are in some kind of urgent lockout situation.”
KeyMe is also increasingly offering assistance outside of home lockouts, including duplication services for RFID (radio-frequency identification) and vehicle transponder keys.
“We started the company making brass keys, and that still remains a core part of the business, but we’re getting more sophisticated in the types of keys that we can make,” Marsh said.
With competitors such as MinuteKey and My Key Machine vying for similar territory, Marsh says KeyMe differentiates itself through its suite of services and focus on customer experience.
“We’ve been very fortunate to be the leader in this space. We’ve displaced our competitors out of a variety of retailers,” he said.
“Leveraging incredibly sophisticated technology and delivering a highly-differentiated, convenient and satisfying consumer experience, KeyMe is nonpareil in the locksmith industry,” said Eric Reiter, partner at Brentwood Associates, in a news release.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
Starbucks’ AI barista aims to speed service and improve experience. Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune Business Editor, explains its impact on workers and customers.
As Big Tech reports Q3 earnings, investors await proof that massive AI and cloud investments from Meta, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet are driving real growth.
Eric Trump joins us to discuss American Bitcoin’s mission, market strategy, and why he believes the U.S. must lead the next era of digital currency innovation.
