Gasgoo Munich- Xense Robotics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a company specializing in embodied tactile intelligence, has raised around 100 million yuan in a funding round. The deal highlights activity in the embodied intelligence sector, focusing on the critical chain of perception, data, models, and scenarios.
Founded in May 2024 by Ma Daolin—an associate professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the sole winner of the ICRA 2021 Best Paper Award—the company emphasizes the principle that "tactile sensing illuminates physical intelligence." Xense offers integrated hardware and software solutions, including multi-modal tactile sensors, data acquisition systems, a VTLA embodied model, and a tactile world model. These tools are designed to enhance robotic contact perception, fine manipulation, and autonomous interaction within real-world environments.
The capital will be deployed across three key areas: accelerating the industrial application of high-precision tricolor optical tactile sensors; deploying and validating visuo-tactile data acquisition equipment and large-scale tactile datasets in real-world scenarios; and refining the world's only physical intelligence model with native support for tactile and contact modalities to speed up its application in critical embodied intelligence tasks.
Large language models are enhancing robots' capabilities in language, vision, and tasks. However, as robots operate in environments such as factories, warehouses, retail spaces, and homes, the industry faces a fundamental challenge. Machines must not only see and hear but also understand exactly what they are touching, the force they are applying, and how to adjust their grip in real time. Tactile sensing is emerging as the critical factor that will transfer embodied intelligence from demonstrations to practical applications, and further to reliability.
The newly released Xense XTac UMI G1 wearable tactile data collection gripper; Image credit: Xense Robotics
In terms of technology, Xense Robotics has established a comprehensive product portfolio centered on tactile intelligence. On the hardware front, the firm has developed high-precision tricolor optical tactile sensors that capture deformation, texture, slippage, and local geometry during contact via a visuo-tactile approach. For data, Xense introduced the XTac UMI G1 acquisition system to capture high-quality tactile and visual data from real physical interactions. On the modeling side, the company developed the VTLA (Vision-Tactile-Language-Action) multi-modal embodied model, which natively supports tactile and contact modalities.
Since its founding, Xense Robotics has served over 300 clients across robotics, smart manufacturing, consumer goods, and research institutions. The participation of leading embodied intelligence players and Jide Electrical as strategic investors underscores the recognition of tactile intelligence's value in industrial applications.
Before robots can truly navigate the real world, they must first learn to perceive it. Tactile sensing, in this regard, is the link closest to physical reality itself.
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