Andrea Lisbona

Andrea Lisbona recently exited Touchland for $880M.

In 2010, Andrea started selling hand sanitizer in Barcelona.

And instantly noticed the obvious: no one liked using it.

It smelled like alcohol.

It dried your skin.

It sat in ugly, clunky bottles.

One brand dominated the market (Purell) and no one had challenged them in 20 years.

So Andrea started asking a different question: What if hand sanitizer wasn’t a medical product? What if it was personal care? Something you wanted to carry and enjoyed using?

She started Touchland in Spain in 2014.

The goal? Reinvent a dull, functional product into a skincare-forward lifestyle experience…

Beautiful, design-first packaging.

16 sensorial scents (from Wild Watermelon to Vanilla Cinnamon).

Moisturizing ingredients that made your hands feel good, not gross.

But Spain didn’t bite.

So in 2018, Andrea left everything behind.

Moved to Miami.

Launched a Kickstarter with a $15K goal.

24 hours later? 150% funded.

By the end: $67K raised.

Touchland launched DTC and did $1M in sales in the first year.

Then COVID hit.

The whole world wanted sanitizer.

Every brand flooded the market with industrial bottles and generic gels.

Andrea didn’t budge.

She refused to go mass.

No bulk discounts. No ugly packaging. No compromise.

Touchland stayed premium.

Beautiful bottles. High-end scents. Skincare-grade formulas.

It worked.

They had 700+ orders a day.

34K people on the waitlist.

In 3 months, they sold 10K dispensers to companies.

Andrea had opportunities to expand globally.

Sephora wanted her everywhere.

Her response? “No. Not yet.”

She focused on the U.S.

One market. One vision. Nail the execution first.

The strategy paid off.

From 2022 to 2023, sales jumped +203%.

By 2025, Touchland was in Sephora, Ulta, Target, Urban Outfitters, Amazon, and more than 2,500 retail stores.

Total revenue? $130M in just 12 months.

They became the #2 hand sanitizer brand in the U.S. just behind Purell.

Touchland collaborated with Disney, Smiley, Hello Kitty.

They sold out instantly.

Waitlists hit 2,000+.

Every limited edition was a drop.

On TikTok and Instagram, they racked up 170M+ organic impressions.

Zero paid influencers. Just community.

She gave people something to show off, not hide in their bags.

She once said: “Personal care usually sells through fear. Our goal is the opposite. To empower people and make them excited to use our products.”

And in May 2025, she exited.

Church & Dwight (maker of Arm & Hammer, Batiste, Waterpik) acquired Touchland: $700M in cash and stock and up to $180M in earn-outs.

Here’s my biggest takeaway: if your category’s boring, it’s probably ripe for disruption.