Meet Alchemy

Alchemy is a Canadian clean-tech company on a mission to make vehicles and equipment last longer and work harder. Their secret? Advanced nanocoatings that make windshields 6 times more durable against stone chips and cracks — like invisible armour for cars, trucks and equipment.

When it came to the shift from lab to market, Alchemy faced a familiar challenge: how to scale fast in the U.S. without a domestic entity. They needed people on the ground immediately, without a ton of additional overhead and hassle.

Alchemy’s U.S. expansion challenges

Alchemy had the product, market opportunity and the urgency, but with a lean team and limited internal resources. They needed to break into the U.S. market and to do that, they had to hire local resources quickly.

Hiring in the U.S. meant diving into a maze of legal fees, compliance rules, payroll systems and HR red tape—all for a company that was built to move fast, none of which Alchemy had in-house.

“We wanted to move fast, but we also wanted to stay lean. Managing HR, contracts and benefits in the U.S. would have been a huge distraction.” – Paul Lucier, VP Sales and Business, Alchemy

Going global without the grind with an EOR

Instead of setting up an entity, Alchemy turned to Communitech Outposts, an employer of record that makes it easy for Canadian companies to hire abroad.

Alchemy brought on U.S. business development leads at a fraction of the cost and time, choosing the benefits—and leaving the contracts, compliance, and payroll to Outposts.

“The whole setup was simple. A couple conversations to pick benefits, then an online form. The Outposts team handled all the heavy lifting.” said Lucier

What changed: A practical way to grow

Alchemy saved the cost and time to set up their U.S. sales presence instead of a local entity or figuring out how to hire across borders on their own, they were able to get started quickly and keep momentum.

Looking ahead, Alchemy plans to continue using this model as they grow — both in the U.S. and possibly in places like the Middle East or Asia.

“We’ll use Outposts as long as it makes financial sense. It’s faster, cheaper, and gives us the flexibility to grow globally without hiring a big internal team.” - Lucier