B.Clean

How to get people against covid19 or other pathogens whenever soap and water are lacking, and avoid plastic waste from hydroalcoholic gel packaging? B.Clean is an innovative and practical hand washing solution. 

The capsule disappears when rubbed and leaves no waste. B.CLEAN provides hydroalcoholic gel capsules when you have limited or no access to soap and water. We use eco-friendly high quality ingredients. We fight against plastic pollution because our packaging is fully biodegradable. We design the capsule to deliver the right volume of sanitizer by avoiding waste and overdose. 

B.CLEAN is a sustainable alternative to bottles and other plastic products currently on the market. In the coming years if B.CLEAN grows globally, it can become a standard for basic individual sanitizing to help protect people while millions of tonnes of plastic pollution can be avoided.

To fight against the Covid-19 epidemic, hand hygiene became vital. The production and consumption of hydro-alcoholic gel exploded. In the urgency of the situation nobody thought of the plastic pollution generated. Protecting ourselves against pathogens is vital, the problem is that we are unable to do so without polluting. So we invented B.CLEAN to solve this!

Hand washing is a global issue that concerns all humans. Some 2.2 billion people around the world do not have safely managed drinking water services, 4.2 billion people do not have safely managed sanitation services, and 3 billion lack basic handwashing facilities (source : UNICEF & WHO, 2019). Plastic pollution is the other plague that B.Clean helps address, with a zero-waste approach. In 2016, 480 billion plastic bottles were sold while in 2004, this number was 300 billion, and in 2021, it is expected to reach 583 billion. Now, one million plastic bottles are sold every minute (source : Euromonitor). Recycling remains an issue: even though some bottles of hydroalcoholic gel are made of recycled and recyclable plastic, many of them are not sorted because the sorting conditions are not optimal. This is why our biodegradable solution is a revolution for this sector. 

B.Clean capsules are a hand-sanitizing solution. One has to imagine some sort of translucid ball a fraction of an inch in diameter, filled with a sanitizing agent (hydroalcoholic gel based). After placing the capsule in one’s palm, and rubbing one’s hands, the capsule membrane starts to disappear to deliver the right dose of sanitizer. This solution has a double effect, it is both sanitizing and moisturizing. Four types of processes/materials/technologies are considered : hydroalcoholic gel production, colloid science and membrane technologies for soap based materials arrangement, and biodegradable bio-sourced materials for secondary packaging. For a fully circular product, we plan to explore biotechnological routes for chemicals production and bio-sourced materials as much as possible.

This capsule would be useful for everyone and mainly for people in a hurry, in transit for example. Our initial target segment are men and women between 20 and 55 years old from high socio-professional categories, rather tech savvy,  and who are on the move. Yet, we believe, with economies of scale enabled by scale-up in production, worldwide communities can be addressed in the mid term.

Our product is innovative and has a real impact on the user experience thanks to its practical and fast use. In addition, the advantage of a single-dose product like ours is to avoid cross-contamination, overdosing and waste.

After about 50 qualitative interviews we identified several customer insights related to their handwashing habits and preferences. A small amount of sanitizer in a bag is becoming the norm now. Our target is waiting for the ideal product, they would like a product easy to use, handy, which delivers the right dose.our target population needs a product which allows them to sanitize and moisturize their hands. 

Some of the targets interviewed are interested in the playful side of our product which would be very useful for their child to learn handwashing good practice.

B.Clean can be part of the answer to prevent pandemics, addressing the most basic standard of hygiene : handwashing. Both urban populations in highly crowded areas where diseases can diffuse rapidly and people in areas which have no access to water can benefit from our solution. Our initial target population, highly mobile, is likely to carry and spread diseases. Our goal is to make B.Clean solution attractive to them first as it is the one segment of population that has the power to make a change, both financially and in terms of triggering a worldwide change of mentality.

Our solution is innovative because the membrane that encapsulates the hydroalcoholic gel disappears when you rub your hands. Moreover, this solution does not exist on the market. Nevertheless, bio-sourced single-dose capsule projects have already been manufactured. For example, the Notpla company develops edible water bubbles whose shells are made from plants and algae. Notpla develops in parallel capsules of sauces and alcohol, however the membrane of their capsule does not disappear. Moreover, in the hand-sanitizer market some competitors have developed single-dose formats but the packaging is made of recycled plastic and not biodegradable. Then, when we compare our B.Clean capsule to the hydroalcoholic gel solutions currently on the market, we can establish all the strengths of our product. Currently, solutions are limited to hand sanitizer pump, squeeze bottle and pedal-operated hydro-alcoholic gel dispensers. Standard sanitizer brands are on this market. The strengths of our product are: portability, mobility, individual solution, speed of use, right dose delivered, no risk of spilling, environmental impact, 2 in 1 effect (both sanitizing and moisturizing). Thus, B.Clean is the first capsule that disappears in your hands to deliver hydroalcoholic gel.   

As we started our first prototypes, we see the B.Clean solution as a new application of existing technologies. Three domains or categories are concerned, depending on which part of the solution is concerned. The first two have been used so far to validate and demonstrate the concept stage initially. 

- soap based materials and sanitizing gels, manufactured in such a way to make stable capsules. 

- biodegradable polymers, made from bio-sourced materials, utilized to develop the necessary secondary packaging. 

- microorganism-based production of alcohol, using bioreactors to provide the primary constituent of hydroalcoholic gel. 

Following the development of various prototypes, some of them are promising. We have made a demonstration video that shows that the membrane of our capsule can disappear when rubbed with your hands. 

demonstrating prototype

Our solution is a zero-waste solution that aims to minimise the ecological impact caused by the explosion in consumption of hydro-alcoholic gel and hand-sanitizing solutions, usually sold in plastic bottles.

The environmental impact of plastic is impossible to deny. In June 2018, a whale was found dead in Thailand. The cause of her death: the dozens of pieces of plastic waste she had ingested that prevented her from eating. The ocean of plastic north of the Pacific Ocean is 6 times the size of France. Plastic is present in water in the form of macro, micro or nanoparticles; the phenomenon is known. Every year, up to 13 million tonnes of plastics are dumped into the oceans, 80% of which come from the continent.

In addition to enabling people to protect themselves effectively and easily against viruses in the future, B.Clean will reduce plastic pollution and have a positive impact on the environment. Indeed, more and more people are realizing that the ecological situation is critical and that we must change our consumption habits. Our product is the eco-responsible solution for hand washing when we don't have access to soap and water. 

We cannot claim a number of people that we’re serving at this stage, as we have only made our first viable prototypes. We believe we could serve at least 10,000 to 100,000 people annually in one year, and aim at serving 10 to 100 million people in five years because of economies of scale and the global impact we can have.

Our goal for the coming year is to develop our capsules and to file research patents on the encapsulation method and the biochemical process to design the membrane of our capsule. Over the next 5 years, our objectives are multiple, namely: to become the leader on the European market, to develop a range for children, to diversify the content of our capsules by creams and cosmetics. 

In order to meet next year's objectives and guarantee business feasibility, we will surely need to recruit top chemists or enter into a partnership with a renown research laboratory. In addition, in order to design our capsules, several approaches may be possible, namely: raising funds to develop our capsules in factories or financing upstream production through a crowdfunding campaign. 

Secondly, in order to become the European leader, we must already convince our primary target, which is the French. In order to be able to develop a special range for children, we have the possibility to get in touch with child psychiatrists and to interview many parents and children. Finally, the diversification of the content of our capsules will be done through the questions we will ask our consumers to know their desires.

Financial barrier: In order to be able to develop our bio capsule we will need to invest in research and development as well as in our production tools. 

Technical barrier: Although we have already developed promising prototypes, we still face technical difficulties. We need to develop and test as many different materials as possible in order to choose the best one.

Legal barrier: We are oriented towards the cosmetics market which is governed by strict rules and which imposes heavy tests on our products, especially dermatological tests.

Market Barrier: The hand cleanser market is highly competitive with both established brands and new entrants entering the market every day as a result of the Covid-19 health crisis.

Financial barrier: To overcome this barrier we must either raise funds from investment funds or business angels. Either we can carry out a crowdfunding campaign to finance the manufacture of the capsules. 

Technical barrier: In order to face this barrier we need to invest in research and development. In addition, we can partner with research laboratories to make use of their human and technological resources. 

Legal barrier: In order to be able to carry out the dermatological tests we need adequate financial resources. In addition, we will be able to approach health and dermatological safety consulting firms so that they can direct us to the right solution. 

Market barrier: To fight this tough competition we need to go faster than them and have better products. In addition, a well-constructed marketing campaign will be ideal to achieve maximum media impact. Finally, our product has a strong positive impact and an innovative vision of today's consumption. Also we are going to create a community via social networks and marketing operations in order to have loyal customers.

We have identified three types of competing mass-market products: hydroalcoholic gel, soap, cleaning solution dispensers. Yet no one offers a clean product with low or few environmental impact without the need of water.

full-time staff : 4

part-time staff : 3

We are a team of 50% women, with experiences in various fields, with different backgrounds. Diversity is our strength ! Our team is the right mix of daring young entrepreneurs and more seasoned professionals. Skills of the team members complement one another.

full-time staff : 

• Mehdi : Business development student 

• Morgiane : Business development student

• Oriane : Biotechnologies student 

• Maxime : Marketing & Communication student

part-time staff : 

• Mathieu : Materials Engineer

• Ellina : Business development

• Michel : Supply Chain & Industrialization

We have been named Laureate of the Techstars Global Startup Weekend Covid 19 French Edition. In addition, we were ranked in the world's TOP 20 from Techstars TGSW Covid-19.

The business model we forecast is divided into 2 objectives of growth: BtoC in short term, and then BtoB in long term. Our vision is to start small and grow to become global.

For BtoC, we will sell first our capsule through e-commerce and pop-up stores with strong marketing and communication. 

For BtoB, we have long term projection channels like supermarkets. To achieve this, we plan to build partnerships with distribution actors. As revenue, we will get money from capsule sales and outsourced investment.

As soon as the company will be profitable: For each packet of B.Clean sold in areas with high purchasing power (France for example), one packet of B.Clean will be offered to populations that do not benefit from optimal hygiene conditions (developing countries). This is so that each person can protect themselves against pathogens (Covid-19 for example).

First of all, we plan to raise funds from investment funds specializing in projects with environmental impacts and business angels. In addition, we will be able to finance our first MVP manufacture through a crowdfunding campaign. 

Indeed, we want to become Solvers because we need the help of the program. Namely on several aspects: scientific, technical and legal. In addition, the network could be very useful to us because we will be in an ecosystem favourable to the success of our project. 

Joining the program will allow us to overcome some of the barriers we encounter. Indeed, the proposed support will allow us to work on the technical development of our product alongside experts to help us advance in our innovative work through the program.

Mentorship and strategic advice from Solve and MIT will be helpful in our strategy against competition. Of course the dotation will also allow us to finance our first costs.

Indeed, we need help with the technological solution. For this, a partnership with a research laboratory would be a possibility. Thanks to a partnership like this we will be able to access their physical resources (such as chemists) and technical resources (such as encapsulation machines...). As a counterpart to this aid, the research laboratory could have shares in the capital of our company. 

We have thought about a partnership with Lactips. Lactips develops, manufactures and markets the only plastic-free polymer. 100% bio-sourced and completely biodegradable, this innovative high quality material is an efficient and responsible alternative to many traditional plastics. 

In addition, a partnership with Metabolic Explorer could be a good idea. METabolic EXplorer uses the biochemistry of bacteria to create alternatives to petrochemicals. Thus, they are working on creating alcohol made only from bacteria. As a result, alcohol is an important component of our hydro-alcoholic solution.

Then we selected these companies because they are French. The advantage of involving local businesses is that it reduces our environmental impact. 

In order to realize these partnerships, these companies will enter into the capital of our company.