Tired of encountering messy toilet seats? Cleana, a startup founded by MIT alumni, has the solution.
CTO Richard Li SM ’24 has led the development of an antibacterial, self-lifting toilet seat, promising a cleaner and more hygienic bathroom experience for everyone. While creating a new toilet seat may not be as glamorous as developing a fusion reactor, Li is passionate about the company’s mission and its potential impact.
“A lot of people find it odd at first – a lot of our investors certainly did,” Li says. “This is meaningful to me and how I spent my time the past four years at MIT, and we now have the best solution available for solving this big problem.”
Cleana’s innovative seating solution has already been embraced by numerous high-profile customers, such as Gillette Stadium, the YMCA, and MIT, with over 1,000 seats already in use across various locations, including schools, airports, gyms, and stadiums.
Founder Li’s inspiration for this revolutionary product stemmed from the pressing need for cleaner public restrooms, a challenge that had not been effectively addressed until now.
Cleana’s innovative smart seat may look like a regular toilet seat, but its unique design represents a complex and thoughtful solution. After undergoing three major design pivots, Cleana’s current seat is now battery-free and operates without electronics. It intelligently lifts itself after a predetermined amount of time and can also detect when it should adjust its position based on user activity.
Cleana’s seat is especially effective in public men’s and all-gender restrooms where maintaining cleanliness is a challenge. The seat incorporates antimicrobial agents to prevent the spread of germs and includes a special handle to ensure hygienic use.
Customers have reported significantly reduced mess and maintenance with Cleana’s seats, making it a practical and effective solution for public restroom facilities.
“It saves the cleaning staff a lot of time,” Li says. “Sometimes, businesses had to send cleaning staff into their bathrooms multiple times a day to check on the toilet seat to make sure it’s clean. Now they’re finding that every time they go in, it’s already clean.”
The team is also developing a premium version of the seat designed for home use, which automatically lowers the toilet seat and lid. This innovative product utilizes the same technology as its commercial counterpart but with a reversed mechanism. The invention is aimed at resolving the perennial issue of lowering the toilet seat while also safeguarding young children, pets, and dropped items from the potential hazards of an open bowl.
“It’s funny developing a second product which is essentially the opposite of our first, but we’ve been absolutely blown away by the interest in it, especially amongst homeowners and developers,” said Li. “Several large plumbing companies with interest in the product have also conducted independent surveys, finding that more than half of consumers may adopt them in the coming years.”
Li envisions a future where his company’s smart toilet seats are readily available in gas stations and restaurants, ensuring a pristine and high-tech restroom experience wherever he goes. This vision became a reality during a recent visit to Roche Brothers in Watertown, Massachusetts, when he stumbled upon his company’s smart seat in the restroom, bringing him immense delight.
However, Li understands that there is still much work to be done to fully revolutionize the toilet experience. This drove him to make a statement at MIT’s Commencement last spring, as he proudly wore a toilet seat around his neck instead of a traditional sash. Despite the fact that others maintained their distance, Li was confident in the cleanliness and innovation of his product.
