NEW YORK, May 21, 2020– PathSpot, a creator of a real-time hand hygiene management system that protects against the threat and spread of illness with a hand scanner announced the closing of $6.5 million in a Series A round led by Valor Siren Ventures (VSV).
It bringing the company’s total funding to $10.5 million.
Formed with an anchor investment from Starbucks and in collaboration with Valor Equity Partners.
Richard Tait, a partner at VSV, will join PathSpot’s board of directors. Existing investors FIKA Ventures and Walden Venture Capital also participated with a follow on investment.
“PathSpot works alongside the food industry to promote handwashing and enhance a positive culture around sanitation, using data to help plan and protect against future risk,” said Christine Schindler, CEO and co-founder, PathSpot.
30% of diarrhea-related sicknesses and 20% of respiratory infections are preventable by proper handwashing, and among these are the 48 million Americans who get sick each year from foodborne illness.
As an example, the spread of germs from food handlers to food accounts for 89% of all foodborne illnesses that are contracted in restaurants. In less than two seconds, PathSpot’s hand scanner detects invisible signs of bacteria and viruses that cause illnesses and outbreaks.
Before the current COVID-19 pandemic, less than 25% of US restaurants’ handwashing practices were in compliance with FDA food code handwashing frequency requirements. Now, as restaurants are reopening amidst the global health crisis, a renewed interest and demand for hygiene is occurring among businesses and customers alike. Ensuring proper handwashing and employee training will be critical, as well as proactively and thoughtfully communicating these practices to customers.
PathSpot is the world’s first real-time hand hygiene management system, protecting foodservice operators against the threat of illness and outbreaks with a device that scans employees hands to identify the presence of harmful contamination in less than two seconds. PathSpot customers see an average 3x increase in handwashing and reduce instances of contaminants by 75% within just 30 days.
The patented PathSpot hand scanner monitors each employee handwash and immediately identifies gaps in sanitation at an individual employee, store, or chain level, delivering clear results through a 24/7 data dashboard and monitoring system.
PathSpot was co-founded in 2017 by biomedical engineers Christine Schindler, CEO, and Dutch Waanders, CTO.