Aug 8, 2025
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2 min read
inprog, inc. today announces the start of alpha pre-registration for CleanK, a toilet-cleaning robot.
Background
On-site experience of our CEO, Naoto Munekiyo
Starting last year, our CEO purchased a single light-cargo van and began operating a cleaning company. While cleaning on the front lines and running the business, the most persistent challenge was securing skilled frontline workers on the days work was scheduled. On days when we couldn’t gather enough people, a few employees worked 20+ consecutive hours—there were times we fell asleep in the car on a national highway after finishing due to exhaustion.
Japan’s shortage of frontline cleaners
Japan’s cleaning industry is suffering from a severe labor shortage. The average age exceeds 50, making continuity difficult. When cleaning falls behind, facility conditions deteriorate.
Rising usage load: Inbound visitors reached a record 36.86 million in 2024; the first half of 2025 already hit 21.51 million, the fastest ever to surpass 20 million. More visitors force more frequent cleaning.
Minimum wage: Japan’s national average minimum wage is ¥1,055, up ~35% over the last decade, and expected to continue rising over the next 10–20 years—further tightening the labor market for frontline roles.
Toilets occupy ~1% of floor area but take 40–70% of cleaning time
In commercial facilities, over 42% of respondents cite toilets as the most difficult area to clean (Note 1), even though toilets account for about 1/100 of the total floor area. Yet in some facilities, 40–70% of total cleaning time is spent on toilets (Note 2).
Toilet cleanliness directly impacts revenue and repeat visits. When away-from-home toilets are “clean and easy to use,” 28.2% say it improves the facility’s image and 23.1% say they are more likely to visit again. 71% say toilet conditions influence their choice of commercial facility (Note 3). In large surveys of toilets at transport hubs and similar venues, top complaints include “not thoroughly cleaned” and “lack of cleanliness.” Cleanliness is central to the customer experience.
Among all cleaning tasks, toilet cleaning combines multiple skills and is one of the most difficult domains, and the most time-consuming to train.
Challenges with current approaches
To address the worker shortage, cleaning contractors, facility management firms, and owners have tried:
Hiring and training foreign workers
Creating cleaning manuals
Reassigning security staff into cleaning roles
These measures can help temporarily but come with issues:
Foreign-worker hiring can reduce recruiting and operating costs, but language barriers often increase training costs beyond those for domestic workers.
Even with manuals, fully embedding procedures requires at least three months of on-site training (Note 4).
Reassigning security personnel means placing people into roles different from what they sought, risking a decline in cleaning quality and lower motivation.
Service Overview
CleanK — Toilet-bowl cleaning (illustrative image)
CleanK aims to autonomously clean the entire restroom and ultimately reduce human intervention to zero. The current alpha focuses on toilet bowls (seated toilets).
Stationed for daily cleaning, the robot starts with a single button and performs wiping under the rim and down to the bottom of the waterline. Leveraging our proprietary detergents and procedures developed as a cleaning company, CleanK achieves cleanliness beyond human cleaning.
Value Proposition
One-button start
Begin cleaning immediately—no complex setup or training required. After pressing the button, staff can concentrate on other areas.Alleviates labor shortages
Free up staff and deploy people across more sites. While CleanK runs, workers focus on other cleaning tasks.Consistent quality
CleanK standardizes cleaning quality, reducing variation between staff and raising satisfaction for clients and end users.
Roadmap
Expand from toilet bowls to urinals
Gradually increase the range of cleaning targets
Offer cleaning services delivered with the CleanK robot
Basic Information
CleanK Alpha Pre-Registration
You can pre-register at the URL below. Pilot deployments for registered companies will begin around the end of the year.
Pre-registration: https://cleank.framer.website/pre-register-jp
Company Profile
Company name: inprog, inc.
Location: 5-11-82 Motofujisawa, Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa, Japan
Representative: Naoto Munekiyo, CEO
Founded: April 6, 2020
Business: Planning, development, and operation of CleanK
Notes
Based on a survey by the Tokyo Building Maintenance Association.
Our measurements at multiple sites.
Based on a TOTO survey on perceptions of away-from-home toilets.
Based on our internal onboarding plan.
