What Touchlab does

Touchlab Limited is a Scottish deep-technology company founded in 2018 by Dr. Zaki Hussein, headquartered at The National Robotarium on the Heriot-Watt University campus in Edinburgh. The company develops electronic skin (e-skin) sensors based on proprietary quantum tunnelling principles that give robots a human-like sense of touch, measuring pressure, vibration, temperature, texture, and distributed force at sub-0.1N sensitivity and frequencies above 1000Hz per taxel. Its core commercial offerings are the TACTO tactile e-skin and Robot Fingertip products — both built around conformable, thin-film sensor sheets that can be cut to fit arbitrary robotic geometries — supplemented by the Välkky Avatar Robot (in clinical trials in Finland for remote healthcare) and the SENSOLE Smart Insole for wearable gait monitoring.

The underlying platform enables downstream AI capabilities such as sub-10ms slip detection, per-frame grasp score prediction, and tactile reward signals for reinforcement and imitation learning. Touchlab monetises through a mix of unit hardware sales via its e-commerce storefront and at robotics conferences, OEM-embedded integrations into partner robotic platforms (officially embedded into Shadow Robot Dexterous Hand and Tesollo DG-5F as of ICRA 2026), and bespoke sensor design services delivered through direct engineering engagements with robotics manufacturers, integrators, and AI research institutions. Open-source ROS/ROS2 and Python drivers (maintained on GitHub under touchlab-avatarx) support developer adoption across Allegro, Schunk SVH, RobotiQ, and OnRobot grippers.

The company has raised approximately $4.8M in seed funding led by Octopus Ventures (with EIT Digital and Creator Fund participating) in February 2022, secured a £1M R&D contract from ARIA in November 2025 for its GRIT project, and was selected for the Google DeepMind Accelerator: Robotics program in 2026. Geographic expansion initiatives are active in Japan and Korea via the UK Global Business Innovation Partnership and in India via WEF 2026 engagements, while healthcare clinical work is underway in Finland. Headcount stands at 15 employees organised across five core teams, with three granted patents underpinning the technology.

Name

Touchlab

Legal name

Touchlab Limited

Website

https://touchlab.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Touchlab is a Scottish deep-tech company developing quantum tunnelling-based electronic skin sensors and robotic fingertips that give robots human-like tactile sensing, serving robotics OEMs, AI researchers, and healthcare applications through hardware sales, OEM integrations, and bespoke sensor design.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Robotic Tactile Sensors

NAICS

Electromedical and Electrotherapeutic Apparatus Manufacturing (334510), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (3345)

SIC

Electromedical & Electrotherapeutic Apparatus (3845), Orthopedic, Prosthetic & Surgical Appliances & Supplies (3842)

akta.pro primary industry

Wearable Computers (Industrial Smart Glasses/Wrist/Arm-Mount) (HDACALAH)

Keywords

• Tactile sensors
• Robotic e-skin
• Tactile sensing systems
• Robot fingertips
• Force sensing electronics

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tactile Sensors and E-Skin Hardware: Sale of tactile sensors, fingertips, and electronic skin products for robotic integration. Touchlab sells directly via their website and at robotics events, offering both standard products and custom bespoke sensor designs.
2. Bespoke Sensor Design Services: Custom sensor design package offering tailored solutions for specific robotic hardware requirements. Multi-step approach from scoping through to production-scale manufacturing, leveraging 10 years of sensor development experience.
3. Välkky Avatar Robot Systems: Sale of complete remote healthcare robot systems designed for hospital settings, currently in clinical trials in Finland.
4. Developer Kits and Open-Source Tools: Offering developer kits for sensor integration, with open-source drivers and robot models available on GitHub for community adoption and ecosystem development.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

Touchlab designs, manufactures, and sells tactile electronic skin (e-skin) sensors and robotic fingertips based on quantum tunnelling principles, giving robots the ability to sense pressure, slip, texture, temperature, and force distribution. Core sellable products include the TACTO E-Skin, the 16-taxel Robot Fingertip, the Välkky Avatar Robot for remote healthcare, and the SENSOLE Smart Insole for wearable gait monitoring, supplemented by a Bespoke Sensor Design Service.

Product overview

Touchlab is a deep tech company developing electronic skin (e-skin) technology to give robots a human-like sense of touch. The product portfolio centers on the TACTO E-Skin and Robot Fingertip as core tactile sensing products, supplemented by the Välkky Avatar Robot for remote healthcare applications and the SENSOLE Smart Insole for wearable medical devices. The company offers a Bespoke Sensor Design Package for custom integration projects and maintains an Open-Source Driver Ecosystem with ROS/ROS2 support. Research initiatives include the ARIA-funded GRIT project for generalisable e-skin. All products share a common underlying quantum tunnelling-based tactile sensing technology enabling high sensitivity (<0.1N), fast response (>1000Hz), and robust durability.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Välkky: Avatar robot system for remote healthcare applications, currently undergoing clinical trials in Finland to aid carers by increasing hospital productivity and reducing infection risks.
• TACTO
• GRIT

Products and services

• TACTO E-Skin Tactile electronic skin sensor product for robotic hands and platforms, featuring quantum tunnelling-based sensing with high dynamic range, durability, and conformable design. Officially integrated into Shadow Robot Dexterous Hand and Tesollo DG-5F for OEM sale and direct customer purchase.
• Robot Fingertip Advanced robotic fingertip with 16-taxel sensor array offering high-frequency readout up to 1kHz+ per taxel for incipient slip detection, with 1-to-1 sensor-to-actuator mapping to HaptX G1 tactile gloves for tele-operation.
• Välkky Avatar Robot Complete remote healthcare telerobot system with pedal operation, 360-degree vision, anthropomorphic 2-finger gripper, and UV-C disinfection capability, currently in clinical trials in Finland to support hospital productivity, reduce infection risk, and alleviate caregiver burnout.
• SENSOLE Smart Insole Tactile sensing insole for wearable gait monitoring combining plantar pressure sensing with a 6-axis IMU and BLE wireless connectivity, providing real-time plantar and motion data streaming for peripheral neuropathy and neurostimulation applications.
• Bespoke Sensor Design Package Custom sensor design service enabling customers to develop tactile sensing solutions tailored to specific robotic hardware geometries, environments, and performance requirements, with a multi-step collaborative engineering process from scoping through to production-scale manufacturing.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3-5% immediate increase in pick/place success rates by adding touch sensors to robotic fingers
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

AI capability5 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered regional, flagship and core.

• Madhya Pradesh Government, IndiaregionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 January 2026Engagements at WEF 2026 for AI partnerships and digital technology development discussions between Madhya Pradesh government and Touchlab.
• Shadow RobotflagshipTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2026Official integration partnership for TACTO tactile e-skin into Shadow Robot Dexterous Hand and Dexterous Hand Lite. Enables researchers to combine world-class dexterity with high-resolution tactile sensing. Integration announced at ICRA 2026.
• TesolloflagshipTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2026Official integration of TACTO e-skin into Tesollo DG-5F robotic hand. Commercial orders opened Q1 2026. Integration announced alongside Shadow Robot at ICRA 2026.
• PrensiliacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 202512-week precision engineering collaboration to integrate Touchlab fingertip sensors into Prensilia's MIA Hand robotic platform. Delivered 16-taxel sensor array validated to withstand 60N of force. Design aligned with Prensilia's manufacturing process for production scalability.
• SENSOLE Consortium (Sensars, QTSS, Elitac Wearables)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEurostars and Innovate UK funded project developing tactile sensing for wearable gait monitoring. Consortium includes Sensars (Swiss neuroprosthetics), Quantum Technology Supersensors (UK smart materials), and Elitac Wearables (Dutch wearable electronics). Touchlab contributed sensorised insole technology for peripheral neuropathy patients.
• HaptXcoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership for haptic glove integration. Touchlab fingertips feature 16-sensor array with 1-to-1 mapping in placement and number with actuators in HaptX G1 tactile glove. Enables tactile tele-operation applications.
• Japan GBIP (Global Business Innovation Programme)regionalGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership through UK GBIP programme to connect Touchlab with Japanese robotics market. Includes partnership documentation and market entry support for Japan.
• Korea GBIP (Global Business Innovation Programme)regionalGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership through UK GBIP programme to connect Touchlab with Korean robotics market. Includes partnership documentation and market entry support for Korea.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights8 records

Broad incumbents

• OnRobot: Manufacturer of collaborative robot grippers and end-of-arm tooling with integrated force/tactile sensing. Similar in serving the same cobot and dexterous-robotics customer base as Touchlab's integrations.
• Tekscan: Established pressure-mapping and force-sensing film manufacturer serving medical, industrial, and robotics applications. Broader portfolio than Touchlab but overlapping core technology of thin-film force sensors.
• Schunk: Global incumbent in industrial gripping and automation technology including the Schunk SVH dexterous hand. Touchlab maintains ROS drivers for Schunk products, indicating ecosystem overlap even though Schunk is a broader mechatronics player.

Direct peers

• Contactile: UK-based developer of optical tactile sensors for robotic grippers. Directly competes with Touchlab in providing slip and force feedback for robotic fingers, with overlapping customer base in dexterous manipulation research.
• XELA Robotics: Developer of 3D magnetic tactile sensors (uSkin) for robot hands and grippers. Closely comparable to Touchlab's TACTO in target customers (humanoid/dexterous robotics labs and integrators) and use cases.
• Pressure Profile Systems (PPS): Manufacturer of capacitive tactile/pressure sensors and sensorized fingertips used in robotics and medical applications. Comparable product form factor and customer overlap with Touchlab's fingertip/e-skin offering.
• HaptX: Developer of haptic feedback gloves with microfluidic tactile actuation for tele-operation and VR. Closely comparable in tactile/haptic technology and an integration partner of Touchlab, with overlapping tele-operation use cases.

Emerging players

• RightHand Robotics: Provider of piece-picking robotic grippers with integrated tactile feedback for warehouse automation. Adjacent to Touchlab in robotic grasping technology but focused on end-system solutions rather than sensor components.
• Soft Robotics Inc. Developer of soft, compliant grippers with embedded sensing for food, e-commerce, and manufacturing automation. Comparable in combining tactile sensing with manipulation but competes at the gripper-system level.

Others

• Shadow Robot Company: Manufacturer of the Shadow Dexterous Hand used as an OEM platform for Touchlab's TACTO integration. Adjacent rather than competitive: Shadow sells dexterous hands, while Touchlab supplies the tactile sensing layer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TouchlabL
• GitHubgithub.com/touchlab-avatarx
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@touchlab_limited
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/touchlab-limited
• Instagraminstagram.com/touchlab_limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Touchlab