'smart toilet' started as a joke – now it's gaining momentum – The Hustle

4 months ago 8

The whole thing started as a poker night joke in 2021 between engineer Scott Hickle and developer Tim Blumberg. Someone cracked wise about a "smart toilet," everyone laughed, and then… they actually built it.

A rounded white device is held up in front of a toilet.

And now they actually have funding for it, too.

Last month, Hickle and Blumberg’s Austin-based startup Throne raised $4.27m in seed funding to put cameras in the very last place anyone would ever want a camera: the toilet bowl.

Who exactly is investing in this and why?

Lest you continue to think mounting a device with an AI-powered sensor on a toilet is BS, the round was led by a reputable VC firm, Moxxie Ventures.

Another investor? Disgraced Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who not only invested, but apparently beta-tested the thing himself because why not.

Why would they cut a check for this? There’s a legitimate health impetus: the discreet device will assess, uh, what is left behind, then use computer vision to analyze gut health, hydration levels, and other highly personal biological markers.

We know you’re wondering: The toilet cam doesn't photograph users (thank goodness), just snapshotting the bowl contents post-flush. All images and digestive data are then encrypted to avoid the world’s most violating hack.

Throne’s aim to change the world of gut health isn’t too far off from being tested: they’re targeting a January 2026 launch.

The other techies in your toilet

There’s long been a whole world, albeit small, of toilet-spying academics, meaning Throne isn’t alone so much as they’re, if you will, going with the flow.

Late Stanford University professor Dr. Sanjiv Gambhir pioneered smart toilet research as far back as 2005, finally inventing one in 2020.
- In a diagnostics landmark, he also determined — not at all kidding here — that much as each person has a unique fingerprint, they also have their own one-of-a-kind “anal print.”
Duke University has its own Smart Toilet Lab, presumably as proof it can flush away more than just Final Four games. The Duke team licensed its own souped-up toilet to startup Coprata for eventual commercial use.
Health tech company Casana is also in the game: it has an FDA-approved smart toilet seat that can monitor heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygenation.

What a time to be alive.