Hong Kong, 1 March 2021 – Avalon SteriTech Limited (“Avalon”) and SoftBank Robotics Group(“SBRG”) today announce a joint venture focusing on the development of innovative products and technologies that strive to empower and benefit public health and well-being. The joint venture leverages Avalon’s strengths in biotechnology and healthcare, and SBRG’s expertise in AI, automation and robotics to introduce intelligent and effective solutions that transcend conventional concepts of hygiene.
Avalon and SBRG, jointly see cleaning and bio-decontamination, i.e. “Beyond the Visible”, as a way to raise public confidence and achieve a greater sense of public and personal safety in Hong Kong and communities worldwide, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The technological solutions launched through the joint venture will help strike the perfect balance between biocidal efficacy and responsible use of chemicals.
“We are proud to join hands with SoftBank Robotics Group, a company that shares our mission to create a safe environment for all. The synergy we create by harnessing expertise from both sides gives rise to a plethora of exciting ideas and opportunities through which we could address unmet public health needs. With the launch of our products and technologies, we look forward to accelerating the adoption of smarter, more environmental friendly and healthy solutions around the world and spark a new era for public health and hygiene practice,” said Mr Lewis Ho, Chief Executive Officer of Avalon SteriTech.
“We have been reviewing many disinfectant formats to enhance Whiz with an add-on function to deliver thorough floorcare cleaning and achieve disinfection efficacy. Avalon SteriTech is able to fulfil the high environmental regulatory standards after our extensive collaborative research work with them. We believe this partnership with Avalon SteriTech will continue to bring us from strength to strength as we endeavour to pursue and design new products and robotic solutions which will be able to address the new public health requirements,” said Mr Kenichi Yoshida, Chief Business Officer of SoftBank Robotics Corp.
As a newly established joint venture, Avalon Robotics will play a key role in global product planning, research and development, business development, marketing, sales and distribution of Whiz Gambit and other technologies. The immediate goal of the joint venture is to introduce bio-decontamination capabilities to Whiz, the industry-leading autonomous AI cleaning robot. The agreement will be operationally managed by Avalon, who will become SBRG’s first and the only global disinfection sprayer partner. It will also pave the way for future collaborations and technologies as both companies look towards new potential markets in Hong Kong and globally.
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About Avalon SteriTech
Avalon SteriTech strives to provide next-generation cleaning, disinfection and sterilization technology infrastructure for public spaces. Led by a diverse team of world-class scientists, medical doctors, academic advisors and business professionals, we are able to use our knowledge and market insights to deliver customized solutions that address unmet public health needs. As part of the Avalon Group, a Hong Kong homegrown biomedical group founded in 2013, we aspire to become a worldwide leader in public health infrastructure and protection.
About SoftBank Robotics Group
SoftBank Robotics Group is driving technology forward by becoming a worldwide leader in robotics solutions. Rapidly expanding with offices in Tokyo, Paris, London, San Francisco, Boston, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Hongkong, Singapore, and Sydney, SoftBank Robotics Group is constantly exploring and commercializing robotics solutions that help make people’s lives easier, safer, more connected, and more extraordinary. There are currently over 35,000 SoftBank Robotics robots, Pepper, NAO and Whiz, used in more than 70 countries worldwide and offer innovative applications relevant in the fields of retail, tourism, healthcare, finance, education, facilities management and cleaning.
