Eight months ago, Cleanslate set out to automate one of the most repetitive jobs in a commercial kitchen: scraping food from dirty dishware before it enters the dishwasher. That work gave us a real product, real manufacturing progress, and a much clearer view of what operators actually need.

It also led us to a larger conclusion. Pre-scrape is an important bottleneck, but it is only one part of a dishroom that still depends on disconnected equipment and manual handoffs. The opportunity is not simply to automate scraping. It is to automate the commercial dishroom.

Eight Months of Listening

We have spoken with foodservice operators locally, at conferences, through startup accelerators, and online. Early on, those conversations helped us confirm that pre-scrape labor was difficult, repetitive, and expensive. As the conversations became more detailed, operators began showing us how that problem connects to everything around it.

They talked about dirty dishware arriving unpredictably, food waste mixing with trash, inconsistent loading into the dishwasher, sanitation requirements, staffing pressure, and the manual sorting that still happens at the end of the line. Each discussion added another piece to the same picture.

We now understand the market well enough to know that a more substantial change is required. Our customers do not need another isolated machine. They need a coordinated process that can move from dirty dishware input to clean, sanitized, and sorted output.

Building Before Expanding

Our broader direction is grounded in the work we have already completed. We moved from an initial render to a working prototype, then used what we learned to develop Version 1: an automated pre-scrape machine built to handle a continuous stream of dishware and connect directly to a commercial dishwasher.

We have worked with multiple factories to refine the design and move our first unit into manufacturing. At the same time, we are finalizing the details of our first pilot program with a large hospitality corporation.

That pilot is important because it will test more than whether the machine can scrape plates. It will show how the system fits into a live commercial workflow, how operators interact with it, and what has to be true for broader deployment across high-volume hospitality environments.

Why the Direction Is Changing

Version 1 addresses the problem that brought us into the dishroom. Version 2 is being developed around the larger system our customers have described.

Our goal is to connect scraping, washing, sanitation, waste handling, composting, and dishware sorting into one automated workflow. Advanced computer vision will play a central role by identifying dishware and separating food waste from trash so each item can be routed to the correct next step.

This is a larger technical challenge, but it is also a clearer company direction. Instead of optimizing one handoff, we can rethink the process from end to end. Instead of asking staff to bridge the gaps between machines, we can build a system designed around continuous flow.

What Comes Next

Our immediate priorities are to complete Version 1 manufacturing, finalize and execute the pilot program, and use those results to guide the second-generation system. In parallel, we are developing the architecture for Version 2, strengthening the protections around our technology, and preparing for the safety and sanitation requirements that commercial deployment demands.

We are not sharing the design of Version 2 yet. The work is still developing, and some parts of it need to remain confidential. What we can share is the direction: Cleanslate is building toward an automated commercial dishroom that handles the process from dirty input to sorted output.

Momentum Means a Sharper Direction

The last eight months have given us more than a prototype or a manufacturing plan. They have given us a much more precise understanding of the market and the confidence to act on what we learned.

Our first product remains an essential step forward. It solves a real problem, creates a practical path into customer dishrooms, and gives us the operating experience required to build what comes next. Now, we are using that foundation to pursue a much larger goal: revolutionizing and automating the entire commercial dishroom.