At a glance

Josh Downes wasn’t looking to build a company when he made his first key organizer, he just wanted to find a way to keep his keys from jabbing him in the leg while he drove his motorcycle. When his friends saw how he’d streamlined his keys into one compact device, they were more than just impressed, they wanted one. For more than 20 years now Downes has been designing iterations and improvements to his key organizers, making Keyport an internationally known e-Commerce brand.

Who is Josh Downes

Josh Downes is the founder and CEO of Keyport Inc.

About Keyport

Keyport bills itself as life’s multi-tool, organizing keys, RFID fobs and other everyday carry items into a single, streamlined device. It offers the utility of a keychain and the convenience of a multi-tool in an array of sleek design options. “We're kind of the pioneers in the key organizer space,” Downes says.

Josh’s Journey

Josh is a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a hull maintenance technician with supplementary duty as the ship’s search-and-rescue swimmer. After graduating from Cal-Berkeley, Josh was working for an architecture firm, driving between job sites on his motorcycle and he was sick of removing his keys so they wouldn’t scratch his motorcycle while riding, then being poked by the bulky key chain he carried in his pocket. He designed a solution, trimming those keys down and streamlining them into one minimal device that wound up being the foundation for an e-Commerce brand that has 20 years of satisfied customers.

The Keyport team

The size and scale of Josh’s team has fluctuated over the years with as many as 10 full-time employees. He has found that a leaner team works best, though, while outsourcing high-level jobs like firmware, hardware and web development. “You can do such a better job if you outsource that,” Josh says, “Then you don't have to pay a high salary for those types of employees, and you get the benefit of an entire team, typically.” Just because the work is outsourced, though, doesn’t mean Josh isn’t involved in the process. “I've spent a lot of time overseas myself, dealing with manufacturers and getting our team set over there,” he says. “It's important to have good relationships with even outsourced companies that you're working with.”

Crowdfunding

Kickstarter campaigns aren’t just for startups. Keyport has run four different successful Kickstarter campaigns with another planned for early 2026. The first being the Versa58: The Pocket Icon You Know. Unlocked with Modularity

“It's so important because you can get customer feedback while the campaign's going,” Josh says, “make tweaks to products. They don't just buy it. They kind of invest in the product, and you find a whole batch of new customers throughout that network."

Getting technical

There’s one golden rule that Josh sets out for his team when it comes to customer experience: “Make sure everyone is as happy with their Keyport as you are with yours.” Convenience is a key selling point for Keyport. That doesn’t mean the product is simple, though, and while the company provides a number of instructional videos, Josh has trained his agents to take special care if someone calls because they’re confused. “We really need to sit down with them and go through it and make sure that they understand,” Josh says. “That's just not the kind of service that you get with most companies and it really reflects in the reviews.”

Customers as a resource

Keyport makes a conscious effort to hear from its customers, using email to solicit feedback and ask for new ideas in addition to hosting a Discord server that customers can log onto. There is a team within the Discord that is designated with the acronym VIK: very important Keyporters. “It's like an extended group of workmates,” Josh says, “We use them for Beta testing as well, and any new products coming out, we do field testing.” Some have been customers for more than a decade, and they’re not just enthusiasts, but experts in their own right. “They just really love the brand and we love working with them,” Josh says.