Press

Greg Marsh ’12BUS and KeyMe Are Taking Over The $7.5B Locksmith Industry

When Greg Marsh moved to NYC for business school, he and his wife got locked out of their new home. They had a horrible experience, as an unscrupulous guy showed up in an unmarked van and charged $300 to drill the lock. This experience got Marsh thinking about the locksmith industry and, later, to start KeyMe. As he researched the industry, he became really excited about the opportunity: it’s a massive, $7.5 billion/year industry in the U.S., which hasn’t seen innovation decades. He believed technology could deliver unmatched value and customer experience for key duplication, lockouts and vehicle keys.

In this period of time, Marsh met Ravin Gandhi at Columbia University through a mentorship he was doing in the Greenhouse Program.

“I had grown frustrated trying to find a compelling VC deal that had not been passed on by investors,” Gandhi says. “I thought that I might be able to find a deal from a smart student who had not raised funds yet. Greg had a very clear idea for KeyMe, he found his co-founders, and they were building a proof of concept prototype which I found impressive. Most importantly, Greg indicated that (as a first year student) he was going to drop out of Columbia to pursue KeyMe, and that showed me that he had the risk tolerance that I was looking for.”

[Read full article]

Related Posts