Oxwash: Sustainable laundry start-up Oxwash cleans up with 10m investment round

Start up secures fresh backing to expand its sustainable 'wet cleaning' technique across the UK and USSustainable laundry and 'wet-cleaning' start-up Oxwash has secured £10m of investment in its latest funding round, with the proceeds earmarked to support the expansion of its business in the UK and US, the firm announced yesterday.Founded by ex-NASA scientist Dr Kyle Grant and Oxford engineer Tom de Wilton in 2017, Oxwash describes itself as "the UK's first sustainable on-demand laundry and wet cleaning service".Rather than rely on the traditional and often harmful-chemical laden processes associated with dry cleaning, Oxwash claims its 'wet cleaning' technique offers a sustainable, chemical-free alternative to dry cleaning that deploys its ozone technology to deodorise and sanitise fabrics at lower temperatures.The firm also utilises biodegradable chemistry formulation processes to perform "higher than medical-grade" disinfection, while a range of electric cargo bikes and delivery vans provide a "nationwide zero emissions" laundry delivery service across the UK.Oxwash said it now planned to use the money raised from the latest funding round to build a "giant" facility in the UK to serve clients up and down the country. It is also looking to expand its eco-friendly laundry services across the Atlantic.In addition, the company said the investment would help fund research into more environmentally friendly laundry solutions such as acoustic drying, a method designed to dry textiles through the use of sound waves, robotics, and computer vision rather than heat."This new funding will be used primarily to develop our technology and invest deeply into the complete decarbonisation of our proprietary washing process," said Grant. "Up to 30 per cent will be used for expanding our software technology capabilities, 30 per cent for the deployment of our nationwide processing facility and the remainder for business development and growth."Oxwash said there was a "huge" opportunity provided by the "green cleaning" market, with statistics suggesting the global green cleaning sector could be worth $11.6bn by 2029.The firm has quadrupled its revenues over the past 12 months while achieving operational profitability across its three washing based in London, Oxford, and Cambridge.Current commercial clients include the Marriott Hotel Group, the NHS, and fashion rental platform Hurr, with plans to add further customers in the coming months.The latest £10m fundraise - which comes from a consortium of investors led by Untitled VC, the investment firm founded by partners Magnus Rausing of Tetra Pak and Bertie Crawley of ZuluForest - means Oxwash has now raised a total of £15.7m to date.Other investors involved in the fundraise include Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Indeed founder Paul Forster, and Holly and Sam Branson, of the Virgin tycoon Branson family, as well as 8 Dimension Ventures, System Capital Management, and Khimji Ramdas LLC.Investor Magnus Rausing, general partner of Untitled VC, described Oxwash as the "perfect example of a company that is using advanced technology to improve its product"."By continuing to invest in innovation and bringing the service to more people, there is a huge opportunity here to scale up and take on the traditional laundry sector," he added.In addition, the firm has been granted B-Corp status for its sustainability efforts, which it claimed made it the only laundry company in the world to meet the certification body's strict environmental, social and responsible business standards. The company is also targeting the complete elimination of direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (scope 1) from its operations over the next 12 months.