The pandemic may be “over,” but be honest: how do you feel when you see the picture below?

How do you feel in subways, crowds, or elevators now? Even as we’ve returned to pre-pandemic ways of living and working, we’re also in new territory because we are much more aware that crowded indoor spaces are risky. The reality is that germ-based, life-threatening epidemics, viruses, and illnesses spread through the air we breathe, and 90% of that air is indoor air.

Although our knowledge about the world has changed, what’s incredible is that the way we disinfect indoor spaces hasn’t changed in more than 100 years. We’re still using toxic bleach and disinfecting sprays to try to prevent the spread of germs. This is not only costly - $370B a year and growing - harmful to people and the environment, and contributing to antimicrobial resistance, but - most importantly - doesn’t address airborne pathogens including COVID. Expensive? Check. Ineffective? Also, check. Talk about a category that is ripe for transformation.

It’s why we’re so excited about our latest investment (from our 3rd growth fund) into R-Zero - the first and only company to use UV-C light technology and machine learning to disinfect our indoor spaces. When the R-Zero team first described the age-old $370B+ indoor disinfection problem to us (which includes air and surfaces), we had a collective holy #$%! moment. We thought, how could such a big problem exist without an obvious solution? Is this an opportunity that only R-Zero can capture? And in doing so, could we really create a positive societal impact too? (fewer sick days and healthy workers!)

The R-Zero opportunity

The R-Zero team invented devices that allow us to breathe a sigh of relief (pun intended) in indoor spaces. These devices emit strong (invisible) light beams to “zap” all surrounding surfaces AND air of pathogens like Covid, the cold, influenza, monkeypox, and many more. The technology has been used for decades in hospital settings, but other public spaces have never had the same benefit. The simplicity and the beauty of R-Zero products are that the light is 99.99% effective, can disinfect in minutes (sometimes seconds!), and anyone can do it. (Just press a button and walk away for unoccupied spaces or leave your installed device on to continuously disinfect the air for occupied spaces.) Think about how quickly you could disinfect a conference room after a crowded meeting, or a classroom after school.

Additionally, there’s more to R-Zero than just the devices themselves. There’s magic in the broader platform of analytics and AI that can help businesses understand risk and where best to deploy disinfection to keep employees, students, or customers safe and healthy.

Since its launch in December 2020, R-Zero has been installed in over 800 locations across 11 different industries, including strong traction in the healthcare and education verticals. Customers include corporations like Salesforce and Indeed, sports teams like the SF 49ers and the Boston Celtics; Los Angeles Parks and Recreation; Clark County School District in Nevada, the 5th largest district in the country, which maintained a 0% Covid transmission rate after implementing the R-Zero solution. All spaces are now safer, healthier, and more cost-effective due to R-Zero.

Recently, Forbes named R-Zero as one of the 25 companies most likely to reach $1B in valuation. Driving the next phase of growth is CEO, Jennifer Nuckles, joining us with a wealth of experience from SoFi, Doctor on Demand, and The Clorox Company, in senior executive roles. Upfront’s Growth team invested in R-Zero because we believe their solution will be the “must-have” product for establishing a “new normal” for healthy buildings and green buildings. We believe they will lead the market by transforming a stagnant category through innovation that will have a positive impact on public health. We also believe that they are in the sweet spot of our Growth strategy: quantitatively proven market leaders that we believe are transforming large industries.

• *In clinical studies, the R-Zero system has been shown to neutralize 99.99% of surface and airborne pathogens

Subway photo by Alexandre Debiève on Unsplash. All other photos courtesy of R-Zero