Throne Labs Wants To Solve Dirty Public Restrooms

Smart-bathroom startup Throne Labs is rolling out high-tech stalls all across America that are clean, cost-effective, and designed to keep out those who make a mess.

Why It Hits: Public restrooms are something of a crisis in the US, with studies finding the country ranks 30th in the world for clean, accessible facilities (tied with Botswana). As Americans stack up the poor state of their toilets against the impressive offerings of France and Japan, we may be on the cusp of a restroom renaissance.

Between the Stalls: Throne Labs has a clever way of keeping people accountable in public restrooms — by adding a rating system similar to an Uber rider score.

• Throne Labs stalls are prefabricated restrooms equipped with state-of-the-art tech, internet-connected sensors to monitor cleanliness and security, and all the infrastructure to operate off the grid.
• To use a stall, users must verify themselves with a unique, secure identifier via the company’s app or text. Users are asked to rate the cleanliness of the restroom upon entering, which affects the rating of the last person who used the stall before.
• If you mess up the bathroom, Throne Labs issues a warning and sends an employee to clean it up. Mess it up again, and you could get banned from using any of the company’s stalls.
• And be warned: users only have 10 minutes to finish up their business and get out… because that’s when the doors will unlock and pop open.

The Future Flush: So far, Throne Labs’ “bathroom as a service” has proved successful, with over 100 stalls installed nationwide. Long-suffering civil servants love them, homeless populations (who rely on public restrooms) have policed stalls to ensure cleanliness among the community, and cities appreciate that they’re far cheaper and easier to deploy than a typical bureaucracy-laden public restroom. In San Francisco, it can cost $1.7 million to build a single-toilet public restroom. That… for lack of a better word… stinks.

Prediction: With Los Angeles expected to add 44 more stalls — on top of the 20 already installed — for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics, the city could become the ultimate test case for Throne Labs’ global rollout.