Laundry start-up launched by ex-NASA scientist and used to sterilise Oxford University Covid vaccine trial scrubs comes to London

A start-up launched by a former NASA scientist and used to sterilise items used by the Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine trial has come to London.

Sustainable laundry outfit Oxwash, founded in 2017, secured £1.4 million in investment earlier this year from backers including Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone.  

Stone owns around 1.4% of the start-up, which uses "ozone cleaning" technology to disinfect and sanitise items more intensely than a traditional wash - all while saving water.

Following a pandemic-induced surge in demand for businesses to provide extra-clean products to customers, and an increase in demand for online laundry services around the UK, Oxwash is expecting to exceed £250,000 in turnover this year.

Pitching its "medical-grade" laundry technology - which ensures "the full eradication of bacterial, fungal and viral agents" -  has allowed Oxwash to secure contracts with major companies including Airbnb, and a commission to sterilise the scrubs and equipment used in Oxford University's groundbreaking Covid-19 vaccine trial.

The start-up explains that ozone is "an extremely powerful disinfecting agent generated using electricity and oxygen from the air we breathe", and its combination with traditional washing detergents "prevents surplus chemical use".

Founder Dr Kyle Grant, who has been operating in Oxford and Cambridge for several years, also claims Oxwash methods save 25.5 litres of water from every wash, and says its filtration systems collect millions of fibres and plastic particles. It delivers on electric bikes with contactless delivery, and offers customers dissolvable bags.

Dr Grant, 29, said he plans the London opening this week to be the start of a wider expansion.

He said: “The great city of London is a natural fit for Oxwash. There is a real public desire to promote the sustainability agenda, with a strong demand for eco-friendly products, services and brands to enter the market."

Oxwash is not the only British on-demand laundry start-up to see a surge in demand since the pandemic hit.

Laundryheap, founded in London in 2014, managed to launch in New York and Boston last month, after raising additional funding in April.

Oxwash opened in Battersea this week, and will deliver across Battersea, Kensington,  Shepherds Bush, Hammersmith, Fulham, Westminster, Pimlico, Clapham, Brixton, Knightsbridge and Chelsea.