Psyonic
Psyonic develops the Ability Hand, the world's first touch-sensing bionic prosthetic hand, serving individuals with upper-limb differences via Medicare-covered sales and humanoid robotics companies via direct research sales, with a San Diego-based hardware and manufacturing operation.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersSan Diego, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Psyonic does
Psyonic is a San Diego-based medical device company founded in 2015 by Dr. Aadeel Akhtar that develops and manufactures advanced bionic prosthetic hands. Its flagship product, the Ability Hand, is the first bionic hand with multi-touch sensory feedback in the fingertips and the fastest on the market, closing in approximately 200 milliseconds. The device uses six sensored brushless DC motors with a patented compliant four-bar linkage mechanism, 3D-printed structural components with silicone overmolding for impact resistance, and Bluetooth/USB connectivity with iOS/Android app control. It is FDA-cleared (Class I/II) and covered by Medicare, expanding access from approximately 10% to 75% of US patients needing advanced bionic hands, and is priced at $10,000-$20,000 per unit with an explicit cost-down roadmap to $5,000.
The company operates a hybrid go-to-market: direct-to-consumer and prosthetist-channel sales to individuals with upper-limb differences (covered by Medicare and most private insurance), parallel direct enterprise sales to robotics researchers and humanoid robot developers (NASA, Meta, Apptronik, Sanctuary AI, Figure AI, Hexagon), and equity crowdfunding via StartEngine. Revenue is generated primarily through hardware sales, supplemented by federal grants (NSF SBIR Phase I/II totaling approximately $1.4M, plus a $2.6M US military grant for neural interface R&D) and retail-investor equity raises. Reported 2023 sales revenue was $1.5 million, representing 50% growth year-over-year, with Q4 2023 revenue of $560,000.
Psyonic's strategic positioning has expanded beyond prosthetics into the physical AI and humanoid robotics ecosystem. The Ability Hand is now natively integrated into NVIDIA Isaac Lab as a standard asset for robot learning research, and a 2026 collaboration with NVIDIA and ABB Robotics targets training of ABB's GoFa collaborative robot arm for delicate industrial manipulation tasks. The company employs 50+ people at its San Diego headquarters (relocated from Champaign, Illinois in 2022 to access the regional medtech ecosystem), has shipped hands to over 250 human users and 50+ robotics organizations, and reports monthly production capacity exceeding 100 units. Funding to date exceeds $10 million across grants, crowdfunding, and a $1 million Shark Tank investment at a $50 million valuation.
Psyonic firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Psyonic
- Legal name
- PSYONIC, Inc.
- Website
- https://psyonic.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Psyonic develops the Ability Hand, the world's first touch-sensing bionic prosthetic hand, serving individuals with upper-limb differences via Medicare-covered sales and humanoid robotics companies via direct research sales, with a San Diego-based hardware and manufacturing operation.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Psyonic industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Bionic Prosthetics
- NAICS
- Electromedical and Electrotherapeutic Apparatus Manufacturing (334510), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)
- SIC
- Orthopedic, Prosthetic & Surgical Appliances & Supplies (3842), Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus (3841)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Prosthetic Components & Rehabilitation Accessories (Liners, Feet, Knees, Sockets) (HLAHAMAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Sports & Active Rehabilitation Devices (Adaptive Sports Mobility, Performance Prosthetics) (HLAHAMAJ), Healthcare & Assistive Robotics (HDAAAIAC)
Keywords
Where Psyonic is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Diego
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Psyonic business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Prosthetic Device Sales: Sale of Ability Hand bionic prosthetic devices to individuals with limb differences, covered by Medicare and most private insurance
- Research and Robotics Sales: Sale of Ability Hand to robotics researchers and companies including NASA, Meta, Apptronik, Sanctuary AI, Figure AI, Hexagon for research and robotics applications
- Crowdfunding Equity Raises: Equity crowdfunding via StartEngine platform raising from retail investors
- Government Grants: Federal and military grants including $2.6 million military grant, NSF Phase I and Phase II SBIR grants
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Ability Hand - Individual Prosthetic |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Research/Enterprise Licensing |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Psyonic product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Psyonic manufactures and sells the Ability Hand, an advanced bionic prosthetic hand with multi-touch sensory feedback and a 200-millisecond closing speed, for individuals with upper-limb amputations and for robotics companies and research labs developing humanoid robots. The hand is FDA-cleared, covered by Medicare, and produced in San Diego using 3D printing, soft robotics, and silicone overmolding. A research variant exposes an open API for torque, velocity, position, and sensor control over Bluetooth or USB, enabling dexterous manipulation research.
Product overview
PSYONIC develops advanced bionic systems designed to supercharge both humans and robots. The core product is the Ability Hand, the world's first touch-sensing and fastest bionic hand on the market, launched nationally in 2021. The company also offers the Ability Hand for robotics researchers, and is developing an Ability Leg for future release. PSYONIC provides a mobile app (iOS and Android) for hand control and configuration. Through the Ability Fund philanthropy program, the company partners with Limbs for Life to provide no-cost devices to uninsured patients. The company also conducts research into neural interface technology for thought-controlled operation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Ability Hand The Ability Hand is a bionic prosthetic hand for individuals with upper-limb differences, featuring multi-touch sensory feedback in the fingertips and pinky, a closing speed of approximately 200 milliseconds, individual finger control with 360-degree wrist rotation, haptic vibration feedback, USB-C rechargeable battery, and impact/water/dust resistance. It is FDA-cleared, covered by Medicare and most private insurance, and priced at $10,000-$20,000 depending on configuration. Sold directly to amputees through certified prosthetists and clinicians.
- Ability Hand for Research The Ability Hand for Research is the same FDA-cleared Ability Hand hardware offered with an open API for robotics research applications. The API enables torque, velocity, and position control of the 6 brushless DC motors and streaming of all 6 encoder values and 30 touch sensor values over Bluetooth or USB. Sold to enterprise robotics companies (NASA, Meta, Apptronik, Sanctuary AI, Figure AI, Hexagon) and academic research institutions (Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Georgia Tech, Northwestern University, Brigham and Women's Hospital) for humanoid robotics, dexterous manipulation research, brain-computer interfaces, and physical AI training data generation.
Quantifiable outcome
- Closing speed of 200 milliseconds - over 2x faster than any bionic hand
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Psyonic
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Psyonic technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
Psyonic partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- ABB RoboticsflagshipThree-way collaboration with NVIDIA and ABB at Automate 2026 to advance robotic dexterity using touch and motion data from Ability Hand prosthetic to train ABB's GoFa collaborative robot arm for delicate manipulation tasks across automotive, aerospace, logistics, and life sciences.
- NVIDIAflagshipOfficial collaboration making PSYONIC Ability Hand one of the first commercial dexterous hands integrated as native asset into NVIDIA Isaac Lab, an open-source robot learning framework. Introduces 'real-to-real' transfer technology for capturing human manipulation data to accelerate robotic manipulation learning.
- Limbs for Life FoundationcoreLaunched the Ability Fund to provide no-cost advanced prosthetic devices to people whose insurance does not cover them. Every $25,000 donated delivers an Ability Hand and prosthetic leg worth $100,000-$150,000 in equipment and services.
- ApptronikcoreApollo humanoid robot equipped with Ability Hands for warehouse and manufacturing applications. PSYONIC hands featured in CNN coverage of Apollo launch.
- NASAcoreNASA uses Ability Hand for Valkyrie robot research; deputy team lead of NASA's dexterous robotics team discussed Ability Hand in NASA podcast, noting it was order of magnitude cheaper than Valkyrie hand bill of materials.
- Meta (Facebook)coreMeta research scientists working with Ability Hand for robotics research and embodied AI applications. Mustafa Mukadam stated 'The Ability Hand's anthropomorphic form factor offers an exciting and unique potential to use it as a platform for research in robot learning and dexterous manipulation.'
- Sanctuary AIcoreEarly research client for Ability Hand used in humanoid robotics research.
- Brigham and Women's Hospital / MIT Center for Extreme BionicscoreClinical trial collaboration studying agonist-antagonist myoneural interface (AMI) surgery that maintains natural linkages between muscles for better prosthetic control. First patient Shaun Melendy received Ability Hand after AMI surgery.
- UC San DiegocorePartnership with UCSD Orthopedics/Bioengineering and Challenged Athletes Foundation as part of vision to make San Diego the 'bionics capital of the world'. Research collaboration on neural interfaces and biointegration.
- Naval Medical Center San DiegocorePartnership with military medical center for research on bionic limbs for veterans and advanced prosthetic care.
- University Research Institutions (Georgia Tech, Northwestern, ETH Zurich)coreResearch labs using Ability Hand for prosthetics and robotics research. Northwestern partnership with John Rogers on wireless skin patch for sensory feedback.
- ANA Avatar XPRIZE FinalistscoreAbility Hand used by two ANA Avatar XPRIZE finalists: AVATRINA from University of Illinois and VRotors, and i-Botics from TNO, University of Twente, and ETH Zurich.
- Shirley Ryan AbilityLabcoreNumber one rehabilitation hospital in US using Ability Hand for advanced research studies. Levi Hargrove, PhD, director of Center for Bionic Medicine stated 'The Ability Hand is an extremely capable device.'
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Psyonic competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Össur: Global leader in prosthetics and orthotics with broad product portfolio across upper-limb, lower-limb, and bracing. Directly comparable as a prosthetics device manufacturer serving the same end-patient population as PSYONIC, though Össur is much larger and more diversified across the orthopedic spectrum.
- Ottobock: German-founded global prosthetics giant and the largest direct competitor in myoelectric/bionic hands (e.g., Bebionic, Michelangelo). Comparable as a manufacturer of advanced upper-limb prosthetics with insurance reimbursement infrastructure, but operates at far greater scale and broader product breadth.
Emerging players
- Apptronik: Texas-based humanoid robotics developer (Apollo) that is both a PSYONIC customer and an adjacent peer building dexterous manipulation systems. Comparable as a humanoid-robotics player whose commercial traction increasingly depends on the kind of dexterous hand hardware PSYONIC supplies.
- Esper Bionics: Ukraine/US developer of a self-learning bionic hand with EMG pattern recognition. Comparable as a venture-backed emerging player in advanced upper-limb prosthetics targeting similar amputee segments with a focus on intelligent control rather than purely mechanical performance.
- Clone Robotics: Poland/US developer of anthropomorphic robotic hands with musculoskeletal actuation. Comparable as an emerging player building dexterous humanoid hands, representing a potential alternative supplier to humanoid robot OEMs that currently use or could use Ability Hand.
- SynTouch: US-based tactile-sensing and fingertip-sensor specialist for robotics and prosthetics. Comparable as a technology peer in the multi-touch sensory-feedback space that PSYONIC has identified as a key differentiator; competes for design wins in advanced prosthetic and robotic hand programs.
Direct peers
- COVVI: UK-based bionic hand manufacturer producing the COVVI Hand, a multi-articulating myoelectric prosthetic. Directly comparable as a direct competitor offering advanced bionic prosthetic hands to amputees, with overlapping distribution via prosthetists and similar insurance/clinical channels.
- Mobius Bionics: US-based developer of the LUKE Arm, an advanced bionic prosthetic arm with shoulder/elbow/wrist/hand articulation. Directly comparable as another US bionic-arm specialist targeting upper-limb amputees, including military veteran populations via DARPA lineage.
- Shadow Robot Company: UK maker of the Shadow Dexterous Hand, widely used in humanoid/embodied AI research. Highly comparable as the closest robotics-side competitor also selling dexterous end-effectors into the same robotics-research customer base that buys Ability Hand (NASA, Meta, university labs).
- Open Bionics: UK-based developer of 3D-printed multi-grip bionic arms (Hero Arm) targeting upper-limb amputees. Closely comparable to PSYONIC as a focused, venture-backed competitor in affordable bionic hands with similar mission of accessibility and lighter, lower-cost design philosophy.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks3 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Psyonic social profiles
Digital presencePsyonic compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Psyonic financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Psyonic leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Psyonic funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds8 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Psyonic M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Psyonic
What does Psyonic do?
Psyonic manufactures and sells the Ability Hand, an advanced bionic prosthetic hand with multi-touch sensory feedback and a 200-millisecond closing speed, for individuals with upper-limb amputations and for robotics companies and research labs developing humanoid robots. The hand is FDA-cleared, covered by Medicare, and produced in San Diego using 3D printing, soft robotics, and silicone overmolding. A research variant exposes an open API for torque, velocity, position, and sensor control over Bluetooth or USB, enabling dexterous manipulation research.
Is Psyonic a public or private company?
Psyonic is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Psyonic founded?
Psyonic was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Psyonic based?
Psyonic is headquartered in San Diego, United States, in the North America region.
How does Psyonic make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Prosthetic Device Sales are the primary driver. The others are research and Robotics Sales, crowdfunding Equity Raises and government Grants.
Who are Psyonic's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Össur and Ottobock. Emerging players are Apptronik, Esper Bionics, Clone Robotics and SynTouch. Direct peers are COVVI, Mobius Bionics, Shadow Robot Company and Open Bionics.
Does Psyonic have an API?
Yes. The Ability Hand API enables torque, velocity, and position control of the 6 brushless DC motors, as well as streaming of all 6 encoder values and 30 touch sensor values over Bluetooth or USB protocols. Technical specs and Interface Control Document are available on GitHub. Developer documentation is at github.com/psyonicinc/ability-hand-api.
What industry is Psyonic in?
Psyonic's product category is Bionic Prosthetics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAHAMAD, Prosthetic Components & Rehabilitation Accessories (Liners, Feet, Knees, Sockets), with a secondary code of HLAHAMAJ, Sports & Active Rehabilitation Devices (Adaptive Sports Mobility, Performance Prosthetics). Its NAICS code is 334510 and its SIC code is 3842.