Key Partners Silverhorn and responsAbility Close USD 5mn Series A Financing Round
- Tech-enabled public toilet sanitation provider in Emerging Asia, Mister Loo, has risen as a COVID-winner by targeting the basic unmet needs in the region for better public sanitary infrastructure
- 60 sites and 600,000+ monthly visitors equate Mister Loo with direct and tangible impact, contributing to public health in these emerging and frontier markets and adhering to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Silverhorn, an owner-operated Asia-focused investment firm, and responsAbility, a leading impact asset manager, secured funding of up to USD 5mn through a combination of Series A equity funding and debt investment to expand its hygienic facilities across Asia
- Asia's consumer class with 2.2 billion people already represents 55% of the 4 billion global middle-class consumers, underpinning the importance of Mister Loo's value proposition and the business potential for e-health services
HONG KONG, Nov. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Global access to hygienic toilets rose from 28% in 2000 to 54% in 2020, yet 3.6 billion people, equivalent to nearly half the world's population, remain without access to proper sanitation according to UNICEF. With the recent pandemic, it has become increasingly apparent that clean facilities are crucial to prevent the spread of contagious diseases.
Mister Loo has locations in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, and plans to expand to the Philippines and India.
As the first professional toilet service provider in Asia with strong ESG credentials and tech-led options to expand its services, Mister Loo has received debt financing from responsAbility and is joined by Silverhorn to raise funds as an urgent call to action to improve good health and wellbeing in accordance with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region.
Key partnerships ensure expansion plans
Mister Loo was founded in 2015 by Swiss entrepreneurs, Dominik Schuler and Andreas Wanner, as a health and wellbeing solution to the lack of accessible and clean toilet facilities in areas with high foot traffic. A rising middle-class Asian population has increased the demand, and the company has fast become an attractive impact opportunity with upselling capabilities that contribute to overall public health. "We are very excited to partner with two experienced players in the region who are equally passionate about the significant impact the expansion of Mister Loo will have. This will serve one of the most basic daily human needs lacking for millions of people," says owner and Co-Founder Andreas Wanner.
With over a decade of experience championing impact investments in Emerging Asia, Silverhorn acts as the on-the-ground institutional investor to support the scale-up of Mister Loo from 60 to 1,000 high-impact locations by 2026. "With the company's proprietary tech-enabled service platform, strong ESG credentials, and roadmap of new advancements, Mister Loo is a compelling profit with purpose investment," says Silverhorn CEO Mike Imam.
responsAbility, a leading impact asset manager with a 19-year track record of investing in ESG-compliant companies, provides additional support to Mister Loo's overall impact strategy and framework. This will help to further validate Mister Loo's value proposition as the leading public toilet service provider in Asia with strong ESG credentials and trackable impact in accordance with the UN SDGs. "Where and how Mister Loo positions its locations are important, as we observed that the lavatories are strategically placed where communities need them the most. Their services have continued to operate during tough COVID times, promoting good hygiene practices," says Health & WASH Investment Specialist Brandon Cheah.
Future plans for Healthtech
The "Sanitation Economy", a term coined by the Toilet Board Coalition, is a new market opportunity that monetises toilet provision, basic sanitary products and services, biological resources, and health data. Based on the Coalition's research, this market could be worth approximately USD 100 billion across Emerging Asia and hold a vast reservoir of valuable information about human health.
Mister Loo plans to capture new opportunities in circular economy and evolve into a highly valuable "e-health data centre". With state-of-the-art facilities, Mister Loo already incorporates relaxation spaces and health check-up rooms at some locations allowing users to assess health indicators such as body fat percentage and blood pressure range. "Not only is global access to hygienic toilets a challenge to overcome, but we also see the massive potential to offer services beyond lavatories. With the technology to offer integrated e-health centres, we can truly have a lasting impact to contribute to public health in the region," says owner and Co-Founder Dominik Schuler. Mister Loo has future plans to operate e-health centres in conjunction with the facilities, which will remain on the basis of consent and data security.
CONTACT:
Daniella Lopez
dlopez@silverhorngroup.com
Tel: (852) 2599 8140
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