TacnIQ.ai has secured US$1.5 million from lead investor In Group Holdings as part of a wider US$3 million pre-seed round. The newly raised capital will support the ongoing development of its tactile AI models alongside further commercial deployments. In tandem with these technical milestones, the company will use the funds to expand its engineering team.
Headquartered in Singapore, the start-up builds technology that enables machines and robots to interpret signals generated through physical contact. Paying customers are already deploying these systems across five sectors, spanning logistics, construction, e-commerce, hospitality and healthcare.
Commercial deployments supply training data
TacnIQ.ai gathers physical interaction data directly through sensor-based nodes installed within customer environments. The company notes that these live deployments actively support workplace safety and ergonomics applications on site. At the same time, the installations generate the operational data required to train its AI models.
More than 5,000 hours of interaction data have already been collected through controlled experiments and commercial deployments. To broaden this foundation, TacnIQ.ai is developing additional sensor nodes to capture a wider range of physical signals, thereby increasing the variety of data available for training.
The company trains its models using data gathered across different industries, tasks and operating conditions. TacnIQ.ai explains that this cross-sector approach is designed to help the models work across different physical tasks. In doing so, the methodology reduces the need to train separate systems for individual applications.
In Group Holdings is leading the funding round. Its chief executive officer, Liu Song, pointed to TacnIQ.ai’s proprietary tactile data and existing commercial deployments when explaining the investment.
“Physical AI is emerging as one of the next major frontiers in artificial intelligence. TacnIQ.ai is building a critical intelligence layer for the physical world, underpinned by proprietary tactile data and real-world commercial deployments. We believe this combination of data, technology and practical applications strongly differentiates the company, and we are excited to lead this funding round and support the team as it scales.”
Synaptics collaboration targets commercially deployable hardware
TacnIQ.ai is also working alongside Synaptics to develop tactile AI applications for commercial hardware. Their collaborative work focuses on enabling systems to interpret complex physical signals reliably and in real time.
Mahesh Srinivasan, Vice President & GM, Touch & Display at Synaptics, said, “We are delighted to partner with the TacnIQ.ai team in unlocking the potential of touch-based AI. For physical AI to move beyond the lab, systems must be able to interpret complex physical signals reliably and in real time. TacnIQ.ai is tackling that challenge by turning tactile intelligence into robust, commercially ready hardware.”
The US$1.5 million investment will also fund additional engineering hires. Bringing new engineers on board will directly assist TacnIQ.ai as it develops its models and expands commercial deployments.
