R-Zero, the biosafety technology company dedicated to reducing the spread of infectious disease, recently announced a USD41.5 million Series B investment to accelerate the development and deployment of the world’s first continuous, automated disinfection ecosystem and push towards establishing the new standard for post-pandemic human health and safety in public spaces.
The round was led by World Innovation Lab (WIL), with participation from venture capital John Doerr and current R-Zero investors, DBL Partners and SOSV / HAX. The latest investment brings R-Zero’s total capital raised to over $58 million in the few short months since the company was founded in early 2020, further establishing it as a leader in delivering innovative biosafety technologies to address gaps in society’s health protections against COVID-19 and other common infectious diseases.
“Disinfection – one of the few industries that’s been untouched by technology – has been long overdue for disruption,” said Rob Theis, General Partner at WIL, who has joined R-Zero’s Board of Directors as part of the round.
“The rapid adoption of R-Zero’s UV-C technology demonstrates clear demand across the mass market and public sector for more effective, efficient, and sustainable methods of ensuring health security across indoor environments. The physical spaces of tomorrow will be protected by a network of connected smart devices, powered by data insights, and R-Zero is leading the way in the emerging intelligent disinfection market.”
R-Zero’s latest financing round comes when businesses are making critical decisions about how to reopen and stay open, navigating what workplace changes need to be made to ensure employee safety. According to a recent Harris Poll survey of US office workers, 91% of employees believe employers are responsible for ensuring employee health and safety in the workplace. This powerful expectation is paving the way for R-Zero’s technology that better addresses how organisations safeguard human health.
“As a society, we have failed at ensuring safety in the indoor spaces where we spend over 90% of our lives,” said Grant Morgan, co-founder and CEO of R-Zero.
“Over the last century, we’ve seen the advent of the internet, autonomous vehicles, and we’ve sent humans to space. Yet today, we’re still disinfecting with the same harmful chemicals we used during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic to fight pathogens like SARS-CoV-2 in 2021.
“The future is about measuring and managing disinfection with the same level of sophistication and technology that is standard for other industries. We are proud to be the first to employ data science, advanced AI and ML techniques, modern software, and IoT technology to create and maintain healthier indoor environments.
“This latest investment enables us to accelerate our product innovation and help even more organisations prioritise and protect the health of the people they serve, and ultimately make sick days a relic of the past.”
R-Zero was founded in the early stages of the pandemic, upon recognising an opportunity to revolutionise the antiquated, $20+ billion disinfection industry. Its first product, an IoT-enabled whole room UV-C disinfection system currently protects thousands of schools, senior care facilities, commercial office spaces, professional sports facilities and event spaces, correctional facilities, health clinics, restaurants, gyms, and more to destroy pathogens in minutes – without the use of chemicals.
