RB Funds Robotic Cleaning Start-Up

Maidbot, an Austin, TX-based commercial service robotics company, has closed a Series B round with funding led by RB.

Hailing from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Maidbot was founded and is led by 24-year Micah Estis Green. The young entrepreneur conceptualized the idea when he was a student working as a room attendant at The Statler Hotel on Cornell University's campus. While cleaning rooms, he realized housekeeping is a hotel's highest variable cost; room attendants have the highest rate of injury; and staff still use clipboards and walkie-talkies. Green also saw similar issues in other types of commercial real estate with demanding cleaning operations. 

Maidbot, which touts a housekeeping robot known as Rosie, is partnering with Reckitt Benckiser to drive greater confidence in the hospitality and commercial real estate industries by innovating cleaner, more hygienic experiences for guests and employees alike, according to the companies. The two companies will collaborate to develop innovative commercial cleaning solutions which will drive the commercial robotics revolution and transform the commercial services industry. 

The funding will help Maidbot accelerate production and enable deployments across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. 

“We're delighted to invest in Maidbot's vision to bring robotics to the commercial service industry,” Rahul Kadyan, RB's EVP of global business solutions. “Maidbot has the potential to drive significant improvements to hygiene standards across many sectors. Through this investment and our partnership, Maidbot and RB will enable more businesses to reassure customers on cleanliness and deliver an enhanced hygienic experience.” 

Octave Ventures, a leading venture fund supported by Peter Thiel that led Maidbot's Series A round, also participated in the most recent funding round. In addition to Octave Ventures, several VCs alongside hospitality and commercial real estate executives and family offices participated in the round. 

“We are very excited to partner with RB to provide more robots to enhance hygiene in the hospitality and commercial service industries. COVID has had an unprecedented impact on these sectors and we are confident robotics can be part of the non-pharmaceutical solutions that make the physical world a healthy and safe place again,” Green said. 

“This funding will accelerate the growth of our current product Rosie and enable us to accelerate development of our future products,” Green said. COVID has posed new challenges for operators, and we believe we can help solve some of those problems even sooner. With a growing team, a finished Rosie product, production established, and now Series B funding closed, Maidbot is on track to scale its deployments domestically and internationally with large deals already signed in Europe and parts of Asia.