Recently, the HICOOL 2026 Global Entrepreneur Summit & Startup Competition and the Shanghai Division Final of the HKUST Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition concluded successively. MoSense (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd. achieved outstanding results at these two top-tier innovation competitions with MoSkin, its world-first full-body multimodal electronic skin project. The company claimed the Championship and First Prize in the Overseas Track of HICOOL 2026, alongside the Gold Award at the Shanghai Division of the HKUST Million Dollar Competition, earning the prestigious honour of a “Dual Championship”.
The HICOOL Global Entrepreneur Summit and Entrepreneurship Competition is a landmark annual international talent and startup event with great influence across China. HICOOL 2026 took place in Beijing from 26 to 29 August. It attracted over 10,000 startup projects from 141 countries and regions alongside around 600 exhibitors, bringing together world-leading innovators, investment institutions and industry specialists.
On the main forum stage of HICOOL 2026, Dr Yan Zhaoxu, Co-founder and CEO of MoSense, delivered a keynote speech entitled Leading Full-body Multimodal Fusion Tactile Solution. He presented the technological breakthroughs and application prospects of MoSkin, the full-body multimodal electronic skin, to all guests present.
MoSense’s world-first project, “Multimodal Metamaterial Full-body Electronic Skin Based on Electromagnetic Metamechanics”, leverages mechanically programmable electromagnetic lattice structures to realise full-body multimodal fusion perception for robots. Its flagship product, the MoSkin full-body electronic skin, accurately captures multi-dimensional comprehensive information including the magnitude and direction of distributed 3D forces, slippage, static friction, material properties and temperature. Boasting prominent advantages of high sensitivity, wide measurement range, fatigue resistance, low cost and high integration, it can be fitted to multiple robotic parts, delivers plug-and-play functionality for complete machines, and covers full scenarios such as embodied intelligence, consumer electronics, medical devices and automotive-grade applications.
After multiple intense rounds of competition, MoSense stood out from more than 10,000 high-quality entries across 141 countries and regions worldwide. The company won the Overseas Track Championship and First Prize of the HICOOL 2026 Startup Competition, claiming its place on the industry’s highest podium and earning wide recognition from the industry, investors and expert judges. Eleven startup teams from HKUST secured four honours in total, with MoSense taking home the highest award among them.
As a key award-winning enterprise of HICOOL 2026, MoSense received high priority from the organising committee, which arranged two dedicated booths at the exhibition: the First Prize Booth and the Achievement Exhibition Booth, to fully showcase the company’s core technologies and product capabilities. During the exhibition, MoSense’s booth drew many investment institutions, industry partners and professional visitors who stopped for discussions. Dr Yan Zhaoxu, Co-founder and CEO, personally explained the technical principles and application scenarios of the MoSkin electronic skin to visitors, with lively on-site interactions.
At the Achievement Exhibition Booth, MoSense utilised a real‑time data visualisation large screen to vividly demonstrate the 3D force distribution and tactile data acquisition process of the MoSkin sensing module, allowing visitors to directly experience the high sensitivity and multimodal fusion perception capability of the electronic skin. Multiple physical product samples including the foot sole module and torso skin were also displayed at the booth, presenting a complete product matrix ranging from single‑point sensing to full‑body coverage.
At the First Prize Booth, the HICOOL 2026 First Prize trophy was displayed alongside MoSkin products. The exhibition panels elaborated on the company’s technical route for full-body multimodal electronic skin built upon electromagnetic metamechanics, fully demonstrating MoSense’s leading position and capital recognition within the robotic tactile perception track.
Founded in 2011, the HKUST Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition has thrived for fifteen years, witnessing outstanding ventures such as DJI and Yunzhou progress from the competition stage onto the global arena. For the 2026 edition, the Shanghai Division was launched for the first time. Rooted in the Yangtze River Delta, leveraging HKUST’s platform and connecting with global innovation networks, the competition focuses heavily on hard tech and cutting-edge fields including integrated circuits & advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and life sciences. It is dedicated to discovering and supporting high-quality startup projects with original core technologies and promising industrialisation prospects.
On 28 August, the final of the 2026 HKUST Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition (Shanghai Division) came to a successful conclusion. With ground-breaking innovations in the robotic tactile perception track, MoSense stood out from numerous high-calibre entries and claimed the Shanghai Division Gold Award (Championship), along with a cash prize of RMB 200,000. Meanwhile, the winning team has been recommended by the Shanghai Division organising committee to advance to the national grand final, competing for the top prize of RMB 1,000,000.
On 28 August, the evening news programme of Shanghai Oriental News featured a special report on the final of the 2026 HKUST Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition (Shanghai Division), with a focused interview of MoSense. In the report, Dr Yan Zhaoxu, Co-founder and CEO of MoSense, spoke to journalists about the industry outlook and product commercialisation of full-body tactile perception for robots.
“Full-body tactile sensing for robots is currently a completely untapped territory. Our technology enables manufacturers to deploy this capability more effectively.”
— Dr Yan Zhaoxu, Co-founder and CEO of MoSense
(Reported by Shanghai Oriental News, 28 August)
The news footage featured MoSense’s competition booth. The project entitled “Full-body Electromagnetic Metamechanics Electronic Skin and Multimodal Fusion World Model Algorithm” drew media attention as a representative achievement on the embodied intelligence track. This award win and media coverage have further boosted MoSense’s brand recognition and industry influence within the robotic tactile perception sector.
MoSense is an innovative enterprise operating in the global full-body robotic tactile perception track, having secured multiple rounds of financing with a robust roster of investors and continuously expanding business scale. Its flagship product, MoSkin full-body electronic skin, breaks the limitations of conventional single-point tactile sensors and delivers full-body distributed tactile perception capabilities for humanoid robots. Beyond hardware offerings, the company is also developing multimodal tactile dataset kits and tactile motion prediction world models. It connects the full hardware-data-algorithm value chain to accelerate the industrial roll-out of tactile technology for humanoid robots.
The top honours from these two premier competitions serve as dual validation of MoSense’s technical roadmap, product capabilities and commercialisation prospects. The two dedicated booths arranged by the HICOOL organising committee further reflect the industry’s high regard for MoSense’s innovative strength. Moving forward, MoSense will continue to delve deep into electromagnetic metamechanics and multimodal electronic skin technologies, drive iterative upgrades in humanoid robotic tactile perception, fuel the rapid growth of the embodied intelligence industry, and give every robot a skin to perceive the world.