Touchland is revolutionizing hand hygiene with innovative products that are environmentally friendly, silky smooth, and stylish. Founder Andrea Lisbona shared with us her journey to found Touchland, where they are today and what they hope to achieve in the future.
How would you describe yourself in 4 words.
(AL) Ambitious yet humble; and dreamer yet perseverant.
What are the items you always carry in your bag?
(AL) Obviously my Touchland Sanitizer, my phone, my sunglasses and my wallet.
Can you tell us about your company Touchland, how it started and where you are right now?
(AL) Touchland has set out to upgrade people’s hand sanitizing experience, and to redefine personal hygiene with solutions that look good and feel great. I was surprised that such a key product category for health – hand sanitizing products – had limited innovation for the last 15 years. In our societies super active daily lives, hand sanitizers are key to staying healthy and avoid falling sick (80% of infectious diseases spread through hands). With such a need, I asked “why is such a key product so sticky, dries out my skin, and is so unpleasant?”
That’s when I saw the light and we decided to reinvent the product category. By listening to user reviews, we created a product that has everything you want in a hand sanitizer, without any of the most common drawbacks.
We have launched a kickstarter campaign 6 months ago that was 450% successfully funded and in November 2018 we launched our e-commerce. We are right now talking to big retailers to launch also off-line.
How is Touchland different from other hand sanitizers?
(AL) First, the experience. We have developed a deep hydrating, fast evaporating and softening formulation that leaves your hands feeling hydrated and smooth while sanitized. We got rid of that tacky and sticky feeling that you get with the majority of hand sanitizers.
We are user-friendly. We developed a spray system that covers easily the palm of your hand, while managing dosage control.
Our bottles are beautifully designed, and fit perfect with any other high-end cosmetic.
We are travel-size. We struck a careful balance between design, volume and size to deliver a small, yet long-lasting solution.
Safety. Our bottle is designed to avoid leakage or spills.
We have amazing variety. we have 8 different scents to meet everyone’s taste!
Lastly, we are cost-efficient. Our bottles contain 500+ sprays (20x more than gel/foam typical pocket-size sanitizers).
What is your long-term vision for Touchland?
(AL) Our goal is to become the leader in innovation in our industry not only in hand sanitizing solutions but any other solution that improves your daily life and takes care of your health.
What keeps you motivated on this long entrepreneurial road?
(AL) Milestones, keep growing the family, arriving to new countries and the most important, user reviews. I spent a lot of time on instagram reading our customer reviews and posts, it’s a great learning source and it’s the most rewarding prize to hard work.
What is the biggest barrier you’ve had to overcome in your career?
(AL) As a startup, the biggest challenge is growth and being able to scale manufacturing. That’s why in 2016, Zobele- a leading multinational manufacturer with over 4,500 employees and the main supplier of some of the worlds biggest brands- decided to partner with us. The objective, was to provide scalability for our company and deliver the highest quality hand-sanitizing solutions to the market. The partnership represented a life-changing event for us because we found a partner with the know-how, capacity and standards to take Touchland to the top.
Touchland dedicates 5% of profits to send sanitizing solutions to developing countries. Can you tell us more about it?
(AL) We are committed to return to society the support they’ve shown us and that’s why we decided to create TOUCHLIVES: a project that dedicate 5% of our profits to send hand hygiene solutions to developing countries where hand hygiene is crucial to survive. Every day 1,400 kids die in developing countries due to infectious diseases that spread through hands. We want to make a difference and help them by providing solutions and partnering with NGOs to make hand hygiene something fun. Here’s our video in Gambia.
Touchland products have beautiful design and variety of scents. What are your personal favorites?
(AL) Mint, Citrus and Neutral.
Which are the most popular options with your customers?
(AL) Watermelon, Aloe Vera and citrus.
As a founder and the main sales person in the company where do you see the most successful usage of your products (travel, gym, office, kids, etc.)?
(AL) Everywhere, we interact with people and objects ALL DAY LONG. So before-after bathroom, before eating, using public transport, traveling, at the office, etc. It’s extremely useful and convenient!
If somebody wants to make a gift to a co-worker what set of Touchland products would you recommend?
(AL) There are so many packs and combinations, it all depends on the preferences of the co-worker. Scents are very personal so the most important thing is knowing their preferences.
And lastly, where people can purchase your products?
