| AI cleaning robots get $800M boost to go subscription-based |
Source: ChatGPT 4o |
| Commercial cleaning is evolving far beyond the household Roomba. While consumer robots vacuum living rooms, businesses need industrial-grade machines that can scrub hospital floors, disinfect office spaces and navigate complex environments autonomously. These sophisticated systems dispense cleaning solutions, scrub surfaces edge-to-edge and extract dirty water — capabilities that come with price tags reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars. |
| The details: Cardinal Robotics has raised $800 million to solve this accessibility problem by offering robots through a subscription model. The company secured funding from 15 banks to cover manufacturing costs upfront, allowing them to lease two- to four-foot-tall robots to businesses for manageable monthly fees instead of requiring massive capital expenditures. Since 2020, Cardinal has distributed 35,000 robots worth roughly $25,000 each, totaling $875 million in deployments. |
| Co-founder Anand Lalwani told The Information that businesses pay annual interest rates of 3% to 5% on leased robots, with cleaning robots costing as little as $2.99 per hour. The company sources most robots from Chinese manufacturers like Gaussian Robotics and Pudu Robotics, though it’s diversifying supply chains due to rising tariffs. |
| Why it matters: The commercial robotics market is advancing rapidly beyond consumer expectations. Cardinal Robotic’s supplier Gaussian Robotics raised $188 million and another robotics cleaning company, Avidbots, secured a $70 million Series C to deploy industrial systems in airports and hospitals worldwide. These robots use LiDAR mapping to create detailed facility maps and work independently for hours with real-time cloud monitoring. |
| Cardinal has expanded beyond cleaning through partnerships including a SoftBank joint venture for Australian real estate properties, and now finances other robotics companies like massage robot maker Aescape and delivery bot provider Ottonomy. |
| Unlike $400 Roombas that randomly bump around furniture using basic sensors, commercial systems coordinate with building management systems and handle specialized tasks like UV disinfection. The robots-as-a-service model reflects growing demand for flexible financing as businesses face labor shortages and rising operational costs. |
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Source: ChatGPT 4o