What began as a shared struggle among three college students has evolved into Dhobi G — a tech-powered, fully managed institutional laundry startup that is redefining how India perceives and experiences laundry services. Based in Chennai, the startup recently emerged as the B2B winner at the prestigious Startup Maharathi Challenge 2025, held at the grand Startup Mahakumbh in Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. Daksh Sabharwal, CMO, Dhobi G, shares the story with Clean India Journal.
Chosen from over 2,400 startups, Dhobi G was recognized for its innovative, scalable, and empathetic approach to solving the everyday laundry woes of students — a basic but surprisingly underserved need. Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, presented the award, celebrating Dhobi G’s transformative work in a deceptively simple but logistically complex industry.
“We were three college students, three hustlers, struggling through the laundry issue ourselves,” recalls Daksh, one of the co-founders of Dhobi G, recounting the genesis of their venture. The lack of a viable laundry solution around them, coupled with the observation that everyone else faced the same problem, sparked an initial curiosity. Further investigation revealed a surprising conundrum: despite immense demand, existing laundromats were themselves struggling financially.
“It was weird to see that there is a huge demand for a solution, and the solution is also struggling,” Daksh shares, highlighting the critical unmet need that Dhobi G set out to address.
Initially, the goal was a personal solution. However, the sheer scale of the demand quickly became apparent. After exploring various approaches, including e-commerce models, the team realized a comprehensive ecosystem was necessary.
“Eventually we realized that if we need to solve this, there needs to be a whole ecosystem that caters to different problems in the industry and accumulates all the solutions together,” Daksh explains. This realization laid the groundwork for the Dhobi G of 2025, which is now actively solving “five, six different big laundry industry problems… creating laundry as an issue conveniently solved.”
For Dhobi G, the ultimate objective is seamless convenience for the customer.
“The basic problem to solve is to get convenient laundry done,” Daksh states. “How it is getting done and how the back end of it works — the customer should not have to worry about the process. For them, laundry should be something that they do not even have to think about. That is
the goal.”
Currently, Dhobi G is primarily focused on institutional laundry, particularly hostels and paying guest accommodations, where large numbers of people reside in close proximity. Their latest triumph includes serving the SRM Ramapuram hostel, catering to 1,600–2,000 students. What sets Dhobi G apart from other campus laundry solutions is their dual focus: unparalleled convenience for students and a commitment to sustainability.
“We want to make sure that they are completely convenient,” Daksh emphasizes, drawing on their own relatable experiences as college students. This empathy fuels their drive to make laundry a worry-free experience for their users.
Beyond convenience, Dhobi G is combating the laundry industry’s infamous reputation for pollution and water wastage. “We have successfully found a sustainable laundry solution,” Daksh proudly shares. Through their service at SRM, they have achieved a remarkable 72% reduction in water usage and carbon dioxide emissions.
This significant environmental impact is a result of highly optimized operations and advanced technology. The process ensures “the exact amount of water that should be used is corresponding to the exact amount of electricity that should be used.” Their machines are customized and IoT-enabled, allowing for precise control over every movement per order. Furthermore, their unique pickup and usage optimization — where students select a specific day for laundry — allows Dhobi G to predict incoming loads and allocate resources efficiently, ensuring “each drop that is being used, actually, is needed there.”
Dhobi G utilizes smaller, commercially built machines. Unlike older, larger-capacity machines that waste resources on smaller loads, these 10–15 kg machines are optimized for individual orders. This contributes directly to water and electricity savings.
The company currently operates with 10 stacker machines (10 kg capacity each) and two individual 15 kg dryers, boasting an operating capacity of approximately 1.4 tons per day, equivalent to 4,000 pieces of laundry. The individual processing of student laundry is a key differentiator, addressing concerns about hygiene and the mixing of clothes, thus eliminating the need for wasteful tagging. Each wash cycle — including washing, rinsing, and water extraction — takes around 30 minutes, followed by an hour of tumble drying.
The recent Startup Maharathi Challenge 2025 award is a testament to Dhobi G’s impactful work. “They selected a lot of start-ups who in the vertical industries are doing something new, something innovative, and they want to appreciate the startup spirit of it,” shares Daksh.
Looking ahead, Dhobi G envisions regional expansion, followed by a national footprint in 2025. Beyond expanding their services, the company is deeply invested in transforming the entire laundry industry. They have collaborated with the Tamil Nadu government to create India’s first upskilling course in laundry — a groundbreaking initiative called “Valarchi Paathai” (Path to Glory). This program addresses the stereotype against the laundry industry, proving that with the right skills, guaranteed jobs are within reach.
What truly sets Dhobi G apart is its “tech-first, laundry-second” philosophy.
“We want to be laundry tech,” Daksh emphasizes. They are not merely a laundry company utilizing technology; they are pioneering “laundry technology” itself. Their proprietary software meticulously tracks the entire backend operation — from receiving to packaging — providing real-time data from IoT-enabled machines. This sophisticated system allows for transparency, even providing updates to customers on the real-time status of their laundry, down to individual items being folded or ironed.
Dhobi G is not just washing clothes; it is washing away old perceptions — demonstrating that a fundamental service can be revolutionized through innovation, sustainability, and a deep understanding of customer needs. With their commitment to technology, upskilling, and a comprehensive ecosystem approach, Dhobi G is poised to clean up the laundry industry and set a new standard for operational excellence.