PathSpot’s flagship hand scanner. Photo credit: PathSpot

PathSpot, a New York-based hygiene hardware startup, has announced $6.5 million in Series A funding led by Valor Siren Ventures (VSV), a venture capital fund anchored by coffee giant Starbucks, with participation from FIKA Ventures and Walden Venture Capital.

It shouldn’t be surprising that PathSpot is raising a Series A on the heels of a coronavirus pandemic that has driven up demand for hygiene products. PathSpot’s flagship product is a hand scanner that helps to identify the presence of contaminants on people’s hands. The product is primarily targeted at foodservice operators.

With PathSpot’s scanner, foodservice operators can help protect against potential pathological threats and illness outbreaks. There’s no better time for such a product than in our current times, where a coronavirus pandemic has taken the world by storm. People will undoubtedly be more careful going into the future as regards hygiene in public places such as restaurants. PathSpot claims that its foodservice customers see an average 3x increase in handwashing from their personnel when using its flagship product. The company also claims that its hand scanner reduces instances of contaminants by 75% within about 30 days.

PathSpot didn’t just stop at developing a hand scanner that helps to detect contaminants. The company went further by integrating the hardware to accompanying software, enabling its hand scanner to deliver hygiene analytics through a software-based data dashboard and monitoring system. PathSpot’s software helps to identify gaps in sanitation either at an individual employee, store, or chain level, according to the company’s press statement.

Presently, it’s known that 30% of diarrhea-related sicknesses and about 20% of respiratory infections are preventable by handwashing. It’s also known that the spread of germs from the hands of food workers accounts for 89% of all foodborne illnesses that are contracted in restaurants. These statistics point to the fact that a device like PathSpot’s apparently helps to solve many problems.

PathSpot is a relatively young startup, having been founded just in 2017. With this Series A, the New York-based company has now raised a total of $10.5 million since its inception.