R‑Zero, startup automating disinfecting born during pandemic raises $41.5 mln

San Fran­cis­co-based R‑Zero, a start­up formed dur­ing the pan­dem­ic to make ultra­vi­o­let dis­in­fect­ing machines for com­mer­cial and insti­tu­tion­al cus­tomers, said on Wednes­day it raised $41.5 mil­lion to help auto­mate its process and make it more efficient.

While hos­pi­tals have been using UV‑C lights for decades to dis­in­fect oper­at­ing rooms, the tech­nol­o­gy was not wide­ly adopt­ed because the machin­ery was expen­sive, said Ben Boy­er, a co-founder of R‑Zero.

R‑Zero, formed in April last year, makes its UV‑C light banks on wheels in San Jose. The com­pa­ny said it has booked $15 mil­lion in sales to schools, restau­rants, senior care facil­i­ties, sports are­nas and jails, through a sub­scrip­tion mod­el that starts at $17 a day.

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“The idea of tak­ing an approach that has been ter­ri­ble for our plan­et and equal­ly ter­ri­ble for the appli­ca­tors or the folks that have not had a voice to speak up for them­selves” and elim­i­nat­ing the chem­i­cals from it, said Ehren­preis, fit with the goal of his ven­ture cap­i­tal firm DBL Partners.

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