Singapore-based robotics startup Hivebotics has raised US$6 million in a Series A funding round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, as it looks to expand the use of robotics in one of commercial cleaning’s toughest areas: restrooms.

The funding round, announced on Friday (Sep 4), also saw participation from Fareast Land Development and bathroom manufacturer Rigel.

At the centre of Hivebotics’ offering is Abluo, a restroom-cleaning robot equipped with an articulated arm that enables it to work across toilets, urinals, sinks and floors. Hivebotics says this sets the system apart from existing commercial cleaning robots that are largely designed to handle floors.

The robot has already accumulated around 10,000 operating hours over a 12-month period, working across 20 locations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. Its deployments span facilities including hospitals, airport terminals and shopping malls.

Hivebotics targets one of cleaning’s hardest jobs

Restroom cleaning presents a particular challenge for facility operators because the job is labour-intensive, difficult to staff and must be carried out consistently.

Janitorial staff turnover can reach 200% to 400% annually, according to Kimberly-Clark, underscoring the retention pressures facing the cleaning industry.

For Vertex Ventures, that imbalance between an essential service and a tightening workforce is part of what makes the segment attractive for automation.

“Restroom cleaning is one of the few labour markets where demand is non-discretionary and supply keeps tightening,” said Chan Yip Pang, executive director, investment at Vertex Ventures South-east Asia & India.

Hivebotics is approaching that problem by automating the repetitive cleaning process while leaving a shorter inspection task with facility staff.

According to the startup, Abluo can carry out the cleaning work to the same standard on each cycle, turning what would otherwise involve about 30 minutes of manual cleaning into a five-minute human inspection.

The model is not positioned simply around replacing a floor scrubber. Abluo is designed for the more complicated environment found inside restrooms, where fixtures sit at different heights and cleaning involves surfaces that are difficult to reach using conventional autonomous machines.

Steam, chemical jets and AI-generated cleaning routes

Abluo cleans without direct contact, combining high-pressure steam, targeted chemical jets, vacuum extraction and blow-drying. The process is intended to reduce the risk of cross-contamination while allowing the robot to work around multiple types of restroom fixtures.

Its articulated arm can reach areas including under toilet rims and around fixtures, giving it access to spaces that would typically require manual cleaning.

Artificial intelligence is also used to determine how each cleaning job is carried out. Cameras identify individual fixtures, while the system generates its cleaning route in real time rather than relying solely on a fixed path.

Each cleaning job is assessed through before-and-after checks, with the results used to score and audit the cleaning outcome.

That ability to measure the result is significant for Hivebotics’ pitch. The challenge facing commercial cleaning operators is not only finding people to do the work, but also delivering a consistent standard across repeated cleaning cycles and multiple locations.

Founder expects robots to take on more repetitive facility work

Hivebotics co-founder and CEO Rishab Patwari believes restroom cleaning is only the starting point for a broader shift towards automation inside facilities.

“Within three years, teams of robots will do most of the repetitive, labour-intensive work of running a facility. We started with restrooms because they are the hardest: wet, cramped and full of moving parts,” Patwari said.

His comments point to a wider ambition for Hivebotics beyond a single cleaning task. By beginning with an environment that combines confined spaces, water, numerous fixtures and complex movements, the company is testing its technology in an area where conventional cleaning automation has faced clear limitations.

The startup is targeting the broader soft facilities management market, which covers services including cleaning, security, catering and related activities.

The material provided puts the size of that market at US$770 billion in 2024, with projections for it to reach US$1.2 trillion by 2033.

For Hivebotics, however, the immediate opportunity is considerably more specific. Restrooms have to be cleaned regardless of staffing conditions, while high employee turnover makes maintaining a stable workforce increasingly difficult.

That gives its Series A round a practical backdrop. Rather than automating a task simply because robotics technology makes it possible, Hivebotics is focusing on work where labour demand remains constant and recruitment and retention are persistent operational problems.

With 10,000 operating hours across 20 sites already recorded, the next phase for the company will build on a product that has moved beyond laboratory testing into commercial environments across several regions.

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