Resetsnow

Reset Company (RESET COMPANY CO.,LTD., operating the Reset Snow brand) is a South Korean developer and manufacturer of unmanned robots that clean snow, dust and other contaminants from photovoltaic panels in order to preserve solar power output. The company states that solar generation is vulnerable to efficiency losses from heavy snowfall and soiling, and that panels not cleaned daily lose 10-20% of generation output to contaminants.

Alongside the cleaning robots, the company offers recycling equipment that automatically separates solar modules discarded as waste at the end of their service life; the separated materials are supplied to recycling companies and power generation operators reduce waste disposal costs by 20-30%. A third line of business is environmental consulting covering research, analysis, diagnosis and information provision on regulations for waste, chemical substances, water quality and environmental management, which the company positions as synergistic with the registration, licensing and feasibility analysis needs of its solar and waste-module recycling operations.

Founding story

Reset Company was established on September 26, 2016 by CEO Seongdae Jeong, who had served as CTO at a PV startup from 2009 to 2016 and holds a B.S. in Mold Design from Seoul National University of Science and Technology (2009).

Business model

Reset Company sells its cleaning robots and related equipment directly, with revenue from product sales plus installation and service. Its solar module recycling equipment separates end-of-life panels so the resulting materials can be supplied to recycling companies, while power generation operators reduce waste disposal costs by 20-30%. Environmental consulting is offered as a knowledge-based service that also supports registration, permitting and feasibility analysis for the company's solar and waste-module recycling businesses.

Direct product sales plus installation and service revenue, complemented by environmental consulting services.

Traction

Revenue of $90,000 (2018), $350,000 (2019) and $900,000 (2020); 17 employees in 2020; $200,000 in revenue from Japan; 15 Korean patents, 4 Japanese patents and 2 PCT applications; awards and recognition including the Kawasaki Entrepreneur Award Special Judge Award, the Machida Award for New Industrial Creation Center and finalist status at the UKC 2020 Startup Pitch Competition.

Latest developments

The company reported $200,000 of revenue in Japan through the Reset Snow and ResetCleaning lines, participation in a Swedish accelerator and business matching in the United States. Stated three-year goals include $10,000,000 in revenue, completion of a Series A funding round, launch of the panel recycling machine, and adding structural diagnosis features to the cleaning robots.