Zacuto Founders Launch PortaBidets: One Year Later

What happens when the people behind Zacuto take their passion for product design and innovation into an entirely different industry? One year later, PortaBidets has grown from a Kickstarter idea into a full line of no-plumbing bidets for home and travel.

If you've followed Zacuto for a while, you might remember when we introduced something a little unexpected: a portable travel bidet. Yes, a bidet.

After years of designing and manufacturing professional filmmaking equipment, we decided to tackle a completely different problem. And while camera gear and bathroom hygiene might seem worlds apart, the approach behind both businesses is surprisingly similar.

Identify a problem. Rethink how the product should work. Engineer a better solution.

That's exactly how PortaBidets began. And one year after shipping our first product, we're excited to share what's happened since.

How PortaBidets Started

The idea for PortaBidets came from a problem Zacuto co-founder Steve Weiss experienced firsthand.

Steve had become accustomed to using a bidet at home, but whenever he traveled, he found himself uncomfortable and miserable. Existing portable bidets didn't offer the experience he wanted. Portable bidets available had limited water capacity, and handheld options weren't the same as having a bidet mounted to the toilet.

So we started asking a familiar question:

What if we could design something better?

With our background in product development, engineering, prototyping, and manufacturing at Zacuto, we approached the challenge the way we would any new piece of equipment.

We wanted a travel bidet that was powerful, easy to use, portable, and didn't require connecting to a toilet's plumbing. The result was the PortaBidets Traveler, a rechargeable, toilet-mounted travel bidet with adjustable water pressure and a refillable reservoir.

We launched it on Kickstarter in 2024, raising more than $130,000 from backers who believed in the idea.

In October 2025, we began shipping our first production units, assembled in Chicago.

And that was just the beginning.

One Year Later: From One Product to Three

When we first launched PortaBidets, our focus was travel.

We wanted people who loved their bidets at home to have a better option when staying in hotels, visiting family, taking cruises, or traveling for work. But something interesting happened after we started hearing from customers.

People weren't just looking for a travel bidet.

They wanted a bidet they could use in apartments, rental properties, condos, older homes, and bathrooms where installing a traditional bidet wasn't practical.

That feedback led us to expand PortaBidets into a new product category: a bidet that doesn't require plubming for home and travel.

Today, PortaBidets offers three products:

The Traveler: Where It All Began

Our original Traveler mounts temporarily to compatible toilet seats using reusable micro-suction technology.

It features four adjustable pressure settings, multiple wash modes, a rechargeable battery, and a 1.4-liter water reservoir.

It's designed for people who want the convenience of a toilet-mounted bidet wherever they travel.

The Home Bidet: A Bidet Without Plumbing

Our biggest expansion was creating a bidet for everyday home use that doesn't require connecting to a toilet's water supply.

The PortaBidets Home Bidet attaches beneath an existing compatible toilet seat and uses the same rechargeable pump and water reservoir as the Traveler.

No plumbing connections, no T-adapters, and no permanent modifications.

It's particularly appealing to renters, apartment residents, condo owners, and anyone who wants a bidet without plumbing. 

The Wand: A Handheld Option

We also introduced the PortaBidets Wand, a handheld bidet with a 60-inch hose, rechargeable pump, and adjustable water pressure.

It's a great option for travelers who prefer a handheld sprayer or have bathrooms where a mounted bidet isn't practical.

And here's something we're particularly proud of from an engineering standpoint:

All three products share the same core pump and reservoir system.

Instead of designing three entirely separate devices, we created a modular system that allows customers to use compatible attachments for different situations.

That's the kind of practical product thinking we've spent years applying at Zacuto.

What We've Learned From Launching a New Brand

Building PortaBidets has been very similar to running Zacuto.  We introduce innovative NEW products to customers and have to rely on education to explain WHY you need this product similar to our Zacuto Z-Finders. It doesn't exist!

We've also discovered just how passionate bidet users can be! Some customers tell us they won't travel without a bidet. Others have shared how PortaBidets has made daily hygiene more comfortable or helped them reduce their toilet paper use.

We've heard from RV owners, cruise travelers, apartment renters, and people who never thought they could have a bidet in their bathrooms.

Those stories have helped shape the products we're building today.

Different Industries. The Same Passion for Innovation.

While Zacuto and PortaBidets serve very different customers, both companies share the same philosophy.

We're not interested in creating another version of something that already exists simply because there's a market for it.

We want to find problems that haven't been adequately solved and create products that make a meaningful difference.

At Zacuto, that means designing equipment that helps filmmakers work more comfortably, efficiently, and creatively.

At PortaBidets, it means giving people a way to enjoy the comfort and cleanliness of a bidet without being limited by their bathroom plumbing.

The products couldn't be more different.

But the mindset behind them is exactly the same.

And our experience developing, assembling, and shipping products at Zacuto has been invaluable as we've built PortaBidets.

What's Next for PortaBidets?

Our first year has been about getting products into customers' hands, listening to feedback, improving our designs, and expanding beyond our original travel bidet.

We're continuing to grow our direct-to-consumer business, expand our presence on Amazon, reach new audiences, and explore opportunities beyond the United States.

We're also continuing to improve our products and develop more bidets for various markets .

What started as one idea has become an entirely new business with plenty of opportunities ahead.

And we're still just getting started.

Thank You for Supporting Our Next Adventure

To everyone in the Zacuto community who supported our Kickstarter, purchased a PortaBidets product, shared our story, left a travel bidet review, or simply encouraged us to try something new: thank you.

Launching a completely different brand has been an exciting challenge, and we're proud of what we've built in our first year. We're still the same people who love designing and building innovative products.

We're just solving a different kind of problem now.

Want to see what we've been working on?

Visit PortaBidets.com to explore the Traveler, Home Bidet, and Wand.

Same founders. Same passion for innovation. A whole new way to get clean.