Zero Touch, India's first smart toilet brand, chosen for T-Angel programme

HYDERABAD: Zero Touch, India's first smart toilet brand, was incubated in T-Hub 2.0. With recent orders for exporting to Poland and a pre-order of Rs 5 Cr, the company is aiming at bringing touch-less toilets to every home across the globe.

Zero Touch began in November 2019 and entered into the market, and into T-Hub in 2021. Speaking to NewsTAP, the founder, CEO of Zero Touch, Venkat Keetha, said that the luxury product was designed to transform how the world uses the washroom.

In an exclusive interview, he explained why Zero Touch would be one's best smart-toilet investment. Here are a few excerpts from the interview.

What are the major components in the product? How is it different from other toilets?

Zero Touch toilet come with an automatic water sprayer which would completely eliminate the need of using touch. Integrated spray nozzle, which creates zero spillage in every wash, which would completely eliminate the need of using touch. The faucet system was in place for over 50 years and we wanted to bring a change in it. It increases hygiene in the washrooms as it ensures no spillage of water. There are buttons which can control the pressure or water and could be operated through an mobile app too. The water dispenser also cleans itself after every wash. We are also designing a no-tank flushing system, which would only use 4.5 ltr of water, saving 45% water consumption. It is a health-friendly as well as an environment-friendly smart toilet. We make sure our product is sustainable, 100% touch-less and truly affordable

Zero Touch had raised a pre-seed funding in 2020 from maruq investors. We have been operational since then and haven't looked for next rounds of funding. However, we have entered the T-Angel funding programme and are positive to raise USD 3 to 4 million. Since it is a B2C model, the major source of revenue for Zero Touch is through channel partners.

For distribution, we chose store branding and digital marketing. We appoint one distributor per state, we chose own experience centers store branding and digital marketing as marketing tool. Store branding is our main focus as customers get to experience the product before purchasing it. There is also our website from where we sell the product.

We do have competitors, who are global brands, that manufacture smart toilets. However, we are the first in India to design and manufacture smart toilets and we promise better product & quality. The major difference between them and us is that while they sell these fittings at a very high price, our products are affordable to everyone.

Zero Touch is present in six States and 10 cities in India. Our major sales happen in Hyderabad and Bombay. We are tied up with 60 + stores in both these cities. We have also approached hotel chains and builders for B2B sales. Recently, we received an export order from Poland and also a preorder of Rs 5 Cr.

We were selected for the seventh round of T-Hub's Lab 32 project, which is designed to guide startups and transform their journey through mentorship. It definitely happened with us. It influenced our go-to market strategy and guided us as to where to sell and who to tap.

In the Indian market, there are no major players. Globally, a company has sold over 50 million units priced in lakhs. They sold a good number of those units in India too. We see ourselves producing 10 million units and doubling it in the next 3-5 years. We do expect that in the Indian market, customers would invest in a toilet which give them a better lifestyle and advantage that is priced similar to a manual toilet price, but would give them a superior quality.