Venture Catalysts, India’s first, largest and pioneering integrated incubator and accelerator platform, has invested an undisclosed amount in award-winning industrial robotics startup Peppermint. Naveen Kshatriya, Former Head of Castrol Asia and ANZ also participated in this seed funding round. Peppermint will utilize the fresh equity to scale up their manufacturing efforts, strengthen their after-sales support infrastructure and foray into new markets.
Founded by seasoned professionals Runal Dahiwade, Nityanand Prabhutendolkar and Miraj C. Vora, Peppermint has built India’s first industrial floor cleaning robot which has the ability to kill the COVID-19 virus with scrubbing, chemicals and UVC. Launched in February 2020, the robot is designed to service everyday floor cleaning needs at public and industrial spaces such as airports, railways, factories, industries, hotels and more.
Shedding more light on their offering, Runal Dahiwade, Founder & CEO, Peppermint, said, “We are excited to strengthen our team and expand to new territories as we scale production.”
Sharing his insights into the investment, Dr Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, President and Co-founder, Venture Catalysts, added, “With the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, the need for tech-enabled cleaning and hygiene solutions at workplaces is now higher than ever. Robots and automated machines can play a vital role during this crisis as they can minimize human intervention and enable social distancing. Many countries have already deployed robots that can clean and large surfaces without requiring any human assistance, and India is also ruminating about the potential of cleaning robots in combating the pandemic. Peppermint is well-positioned to take the lead in this area with its state-of-the-art offerings. We are confident the startup will grow manifold in the coming year, establishing its name in the commercial robotics space.”
The market for Organised Facility Management in India is projected to grow at 18% CAGR between 2018 and 2022 to reach the valuation of $20 Billion by 2022.
Incubated at SINE-IIT Bombay, Peppermint has been the recipient of Nidhi Prayas grant from the Dept. of Science and Technology, Government of India. Its world-class autonomous floor cleaning and sanitising robots are equipped with advanced features and have already been deployed across various sectors such as Pharma, Logistics, Manufacturing and Hospitality. Peppermint is currently operational in Pune & Bangalore.
