Startup Mantra: Cleaning made easy with green products

Many of us refrain from using restrooms, especially in public places, government buildings, and commercial establishments, for the simple reason that they are unclean, poorly maintained and have yellow stains and a pungent smell. Maintaining clean and hygienic washrooms can be a daunting task for facility managers and building owners. The constant need for surface cleaning not only adds to labour costs but also requires large amounts of cleaning chemicals and water consumption. However, a solution has been developed that not only reduces these costs but also offers a sustainable solution. National startup award winner ‘Hygienity Solutions’, founded by Vipul Chavan and Adwait Joshi, has introduced artificial nano coatings that can be easily applied as a spray on wash basins, urinals, and toilets. These non-stick coatings prevent the formation of stains, scales, and hard water build-up, making surfaces bacteria and odour-free, while also minimising water consumption for cleaning. This technology is environment-friendly and does not affect the surface.

How it started

Chavan and Joshi are school friends who graduated from New English School, Tilak Road in Pune. After completing schooling, Chavan went on to study BE Mechanical at the Government College of Engineering at Karad.

Says Chavan, “During our second year at college, we worked on a project in the coating sector which involved understanding both chemical and mechanical technologies. With the support and guidance of our professors, we overcame initial challenges and successfully made a prototype that worked. We implemented it in hospitals, hotels, and educational institutions. We received positive feedback and further improvised it based on customer demands for greater efficiency.”

Joshi got involved in the project aimed at developing a coating solution in 2020-end. Chavan offered him the opportunity to join forces and use his marketing skills to explore market opportunities. During the lockdown period, the duo did a lot of literature review, prototype development at a small lab made at their house, conducting trials, and tests, understanding the business scope and looking for incubation support.

Joshi says, “We approached people through my father’s corporate connections and discovered a range of applications for the product beyond friction-reducing coatings. With the help of the BHAU Institute at the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP), we also received incubation support and learned how to explore the business and technical aspects of the product. We officially incorporated a company in August 2021.”

Water consumption challenge

While developing a prototype, the duo realised that in the present situation, the market offers only one-time cleaning solutions, lacking a preventive approach. In the existing solutions, water and energy consumption during the cleaning process were also a matter of concern. The duo pondered on this problem statement and decided to come up with a preventive measure to surface contamination, leading to reduced water and energy consumption.

Chavan said, “After successfully making the prototype, we consulted with some domain and technical experts and designed a two-spray coating process. This solution was particularly beneficial for commercial or office spaces where the cleaning process was executed in an organised manner.”

The duo also participated in a programme titled ‘India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Startup Challenge,’ by the central government in September 2022. The duo received ₹20 lakh funds as a grant from the government for their first phase of product development to be conducted in collaboration with the local city government.

Product market fit

As they navigate the difficulties and continue to innovate, the duo believes that funding, team-building, product-market fit, and investment efforts are vital elements of a successful startup.

Joshi said, “The principal causes for India’s low ranking in sanitation and hygiene maintenance are overcrowding in cities and water-related issues. Due to high footfall in the restrooms and particularly hard water quality, maintaining a clean environment is challenging and expensive. Frequent cleaning is the sole alternative, but it has drawbacks such as excessive water use, the requirement for strong acidic chemicals, the development of plastic trash, and dependency on workers, among other things. As a result, there was a need for a solution that would assist in maintaining a clean surface for an extended period without the need for frequent cleaning by resources.”

Chavan says, “As we progress to the next stage, we will cover public toilets and continue to create case studies for the municipal corporation workers within the Sinhagad Road ward office jurisdiction. For now, we have chosen government offices where the officers can themselves review the product efficiency.”

“We are still in the pilot testing phase. Apart from office spaces, we are also conducting tests at manufacturing plants. We worked with BVG company in the initial stage which helped us conduct trials at one company. Based on the feedback received during these trials we will launch this new product within 6 months,” claimed Joshi.

National Startup Award

Hygienity Solutions won the National Startup Award for 2022. Chavan recalls, “The application process had started in February 2021, and we were not sure if we would be selected. Applying in the initial stages granted us an extended time span. We were selected for the first stage in November 2021, and Joshi presented in the final round in front of the jury. The team generated a lot of case studies and feedback, and our innovation helped us win the award. We shared positive as well as negative feedback received by us, in front of the jury.”

Process map

Chavan said, “During the pilot run, we experienced that sanitation workers are not educated and we needed to train them. It was difficult because they are using specific products for several years and they tend to use our products in a similar way. Workers needed to clean the surface before applying the base coat. Preparation was needed in the initial days of surface and that process and spraying and letting it dry was not working initially with the workers. We are reducing this curing time. Our product is eco-friendly but the basic chemicals involved in it give a pungent smell. We are overcoming these challenges. It is difficult to change workers’ mindsets and make them understand the SOP. Hence, we decided to go for product simplification.”

Simplification and automation

Chavan and his team are trying to improve the durability of the base coat. Explaining the automation aspect involved, Chavan said, “The top coat needs to be sprayed daily. For that we are working on dispensing units like an auto-janitor device used in certain big companies. These dispensing units will spray our top coat automatically after 15 users. This will also help us to optimise usage in case of less usage of surfaces.”

“We are also exploring a problem statement wherein like government offices the footfall is huge and the surface load is high and hence it needs frequent cleaning. This also increases the cost of maintenance, as well as hazardous chemicals, are used to achieve good results. Besides, the water problem, mostly in remote areas, is also a matter of concern. We want to head one step closer to waterless toilets,” explained Chavan.