Entrepreneur Spotlight: Sidhant Gupta

The Inspiration Behind Clearbot

Clearbot is a visionary company at the forefront of innovation, specializing in the design and manufacturing of automated electric boats. As Sidhant Gupta, co-founder and CEO, explains: “Our unique selling point is the complete elimination of emissions and manual effort from marine tasks.”

In 2019, Sidhant and his co-founder Utkarsh Goel were about to graduate from the University of Hong Kong. To fund their graduation trip, they participated in a university engineering project, which led them to Bali. While on the beach, they noticed people manually collecting trash on surfboards and realized the process was unscalable.

Returning to Hong Kong, they observed the government using petrol and diesel-powered boats to collect waste, creating more pollution than they were cleaning up. This inspired the vision for Clearbot: an emission-free, semi- or fully automated system scalable for marine cleanup.

Conventional methods of monitoring marine pollution only provide partial data. Clearbot’s boats use a dual-camera system and AI technology to detect and recover marine trash and oil spills, while the AI dashboard tracks waste collection, measures impact, and generates ESG reports. This not only protects the ocean but enhances understanding of its ecosystem.

💪🚧💡 Navigating Obstacles: Clearbot's Journey to Market

At the start, Sidhant and Utkarsh faced the classic startup “chicken and egg problem”: “We might have inquiries or customers, but we didn't have a product. And we didn't have a product because we didn't have money, and we didn't have customers.”

They bootstrapped their way forward, creating rough prototypes at minimal cost—sometimes less than $500 per iteration. Sidhant recalls: “It was literally some aluminum and net stuck together like two toy helicopters for propulsion. It was a super, super hacker. But you've got to start somewhere, right?”

After securing an order and investment, Clearbot gained momentum. Scaling from 10 to 100 boats remains a challenge, with electric, solar-charged boats and remote control systems. They are currently developing a self-docking station to automate parking, aiming to operate 100 boats with a team of just five people.

Sidhant’s vision extends beyond waste cleanup: “We can make the marine industry more sustainable by adopting electric and solar-powered boats. Our ultimate goal is to inspire others and revolutionize the way marine ports are managed.”

🌍 Collaborating with Governments and ESG Departments

Clearbot works with governments and private companies to implement ESG initiatives. However, ESG funding can fluctuate with market conditions, so sustainable long-term business relies primarily on government partnerships.

🚀💡 From Idea to Market

Clearbot was conceived in May 2019 during the founders' Bali graduation trip. Initially a research project, progress was slow while Sidhant and Utkarsh pursued other work. They regrouped in September 2020, and by June 2021, launched the first full-size board, approximately two and a half years after the initial idea.

🚀💰 A Pivotal Moment on the Journey

In January 2021, a less-than-ideal prototype resembled a bathtub but proved the concept. A random LinkedIn request from the CEO of Razer changed everything. Sidhant recalls:

“The CEO of Razer saw our product on CES (virtual due to the pandemic). We pitched the idea in 10 minutes over the phone from his car. It was a game changer. The collaboration resulted in a new design and funding for the first prototype, allowing us to showcase a working version to governments. That 10-minute pitch completely transformed our business.”

💡 Words of Wisdom from Sidhant

“Honestly, just go for it! Do it, make mistakes, learn quickly, move fast. Just keep pushing because, initially, we had no money and didn't even know how it was going to go. But we kept pushing somehow, and now, this is real. It's just a matter of having a vision, and any way that makes you move forward is better.”