Albuquerque's Breezy Blue disinfecting minibot goes national
Apr. 7—Breezy Blue is just a homegrown baby bot from Albuquerque, but its autonomous disinfection capabilities could soon gain nationwide status through the national janitorial supply chain Pro-Link.
Georgia-based Pro-Link announced a new partnership this week with Albuquerque-based Build with Robots to promote Breezy Blue among the commercial cleaning products and services it supplies through 100 distribution points around the country. That gives the Breezy Blue minibot a high-profile pathway into janitorial sanitation services via exclusive distributors that work with Pro-Link, said Build with Robots Business Development Representative Christian Slough.
"This essentially grows our sales force ten-fold through every distributor that works with us in states across the country," Slough told the Journal. "We'll be attending Pro-Link's annual conference in North Carolina this month, which basically offers speed dating with all of Pro-Link's distributors and suppliers. That's the real kick-off for us."
That's a rapid ascent for the tiny bot, which Build with Robots officially unveiled at its Downtown headquarters in February to demonstrate Breezy Blue's autonomous disinfection capabilities.
The portable minibot, which sells for $2,500, allows users to place it in compact spaces in facilities or vehicles for near-immediate, continuous disinfection against a wide range of pathogens, including coronavirus. It's wired with smart technology for automated service, with LED lights and voice alerts when the bot initiates its disinfection routine, spraying a benign mix of such household chemicals as hydrogen peroxide to produce a light fog that settles over all nooks and crannies in enclosed spaces.
It's already being used in school classrooms, buses, fire stations, and emergency vehicles in Arizona and New Mexico, including the vehicle fleet managed by Albuquerque Ambulance Service.
For janitorial service companies, the minibot offers new technology to improve sanitation, save time and reduce labor costs in an industry that's seen little innovation, Slough said.
"In terms of technology, there's been real under-investment in this industry and there's a big push now to bring innovation in to get away from traditional ways of doing things," Slough said.
That's a central motivating factor for Pro-Link to partner with Build with Robots.
"They bring a new set of expertise to our members with their automation and fogging technology," Pro-Link Regional Manager Michael Kauffman said in a statement.
Justin Ellis, sales manager for LD Supply — a Pro-Link-connected wholesale cleaning supply company — said Breezy Blue offers affordable technology to help modernize the janitorial-santitation, or "Jan-San," industry.
"Breezy Blue's durability and automation are helping us bring Jan-San into the future, as we're always looking for cutting-edge products that solve common challenges for our clients in new and better ways," Ellis said.
Build with Robots is a homegrown Albuquerque startup that launched in 2017. It's raised $6 million in local venture investment to date.
The company previously developed a much larger, mobile disinfection robot that autonomously roams through large facilities such as the Albuquerque International Sunport.
The partnership with Pro-Link now allows the company to expand into new markets, said Build with Robots founder and CEO Chris Ziomek.
"It's the next phase in building our company with a national footprint," Ziomek told the Journal. "We're really excited."
