Scott Pinizzotto is accustomed to getting giggles whenever he brings up the subject of high-tech toilet seats that rinse and warm people’s bottoms.

Yet he continues to believe he’s sitting on a potential gold mine.

“This is the next evolution of the toilet,” Pinizzotto says of the Swash, an upscale seat made by his San Francisco startup, Brondell Inc. “We are trying to educate people that there is a more hygienic and comfortable way to go to the bathroom.”

Introduced nearly a year ago, the Swash is designed to transform a run-of-the-mill toilet into a bidet – a device that cleanses with a spray of warm water, relieving people from the hassles of toilet paper. The Swash features heated seats, too, and its high-end model also comes with a warm-air dryer and a remote control.

Pampering the posterior isn’t cheap. The Swash retails for $429 to $549, yet sales have risen by nearly 50 percent every three months, said Pinizzotto, the company’s co-founder and chief executive.