CHF 5M to expand Tech-enabled public toilet sanitation in emerging markets

Global access to hygienic toilets rose from 28% in 2000 to 54% in 2020, yet 3.6 billion people, equivalent to nearly half the world’s population, remain without access to proper sanitation according to UNICEF. With the recent pandemic, it has become increasingly apparent that clean facilities are crucial to prevent the spread of contagious diseases.

Mister Loo, founded in 2015 by Swiss entrepreneurs Dominik Schuler and Andreas Wanner, is a health and well-being solution to the lack of accessible and clean toilet facilities in areas with high foot traffic. As part of its “end-to-end” solution, Mister Loo designs, constructs, and manages public toilet facilities through its tech-enabled service platform. The solution is currently at 60 high-footfall locations in Asia, specifically Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines with 600,000 monthly visitors. The public toilet facilities in emerging and frontier markets have a direct impact in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 6, 8 and 12.

The rising middle-class Asian population with 2.2 billion people already representing 55% of the 4 billion global middle-class consumers, further underpins the importance of Mister Loo’s value proposition and the business potential for e-health services.  

As the first professional toilet service provider in Asia with strong ESG credentials and tech-led options to expand its services, Mister Loo has received debt financing from responAbility, a leading impact asset manager with a 19-year track record of investing in ESG-compliant companies. Investment firm Silverhorn also helped Mister Loo to raise funds as an urgent call to action to improve good health and well-being by UN SDGs in the region. With over a decade of experience championing impact investments in Emerging Asia, Silverhorn will act as the on-the-ground institutional investor to support the scale up of Mister Loo from 60 to 1,000 high-impact locations by 2026.

“We are very excited to partner with two experienced players in the region who are equally passionate about the significant impact the expansion of Mister Loo will have. This will serve one of the most basic daily human needs lacking for millions of people,” says owner and Co-Founder Andreas Wanner.

Mister Loo plans to capture new opportunities in the circular economy and evolve into a highly valuable “e-health data centre”. With state-of-the-art facilities, Mister Loo already incorporates relaxation spaces and health check-up rooms at some locations allowing users to assess health indicators such as body fat percentage and blood pressure range. “Not only is global access to hygienic toilets a challenge to overcome, but we also see the massive potential to offer services beyond lavatories. With the technology to offer integrated e-health centres, we can truly have a lasting impact to contribute to public health in the region," says owner and Co-Founder Dominik Schuler. Mister Loo has future plans to operate e-health centres in conjunction with the facilities, which will remain on the basis of consent and data security.

 “With the company’s proprietary tech-enabled service platform, strong ESG credentials, and roadmap of new advancements, MisterLoo is a compelling profit with purpose investment,” says Silverhorn CEO Mike Imam. 

(Press release/RAN)