Zoho Corp invests Rs 20 cr in Genrobotics to end manual scavenging

Zoho Corporation, the Chennai-based global technology company, told the media that it has invested Rs 20 crore in Genrobotics, an Indian startup involved in the design and development of robotic solutions to address the most relevant social problems such as hazardous working conditions.

Zoho's investment will help Genrobotics in its mission to eliminate manual scavenging in India and provide safety and dignity to employees in the sanitation and oil and gas industries. This investment reflects Zoho's mission to promote the development of a deep-tech ecosystem in the country.

Genrobotics' primary offering is the Bandicoot robot, the world's first robotic scavenger, which helps clean confined spaces such as sewer wells, stormwater manholes, sewers, stormwater sewers (SWS), and oily water sewers (OWS) in refineries. Presently, smart cities, urban local bodies (ULBs), multinational companies, refineries, townships, and housing colonies across 14 states are leveraging Bandicoot robots, thereby eradicating the requirement for human entry into manholes.

Genrobotics has recently ventured into healthcare and established a robot-assisted gait training solution — G Gaiter — to help the recovery of people with paraplegia via improved rehabilitation experiences. Genrobotics products are completely designed and manufactured in the nation.

Nurturing a thriving deep-tech ecosystem in India is one of Zoho's preferences and the investment in Genrobotics is a continuation of that promise, said Sridhar Vembu, CEO and co-founder of Zoho Corp.

Creating such technological competencies and critical know-how locally can aid foster sustainable growth across essential sectors, like healthcare, industrial manufacturing, and energy, in turn making the country economically more powerful and self-reliant.

Making this a truth needs focused, long-term investments that support home-grown deep-tech startups through intensive research and development (R&D) and engineering phases and allow them to bring their concepts to the market. Genrobotics' vision resonates with us at Zoho, and the company is happy to fast-track their efforts and support them in their mission to end manual scavenging.

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Also read: Pune civic body introduces 3 robots to remove manual scavenging