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This female-led UK startup bags £2.2M for digital scent tech to improve sleep

OW Smell Made Digital team
Picture credits: OW Smell Made Digital

OW Smell Made Digital (OW), a tech startup which makes smell digital has raised £2.2 million in a pre-series A funding round. UK-based Parkwalk Advisors (which invested in Oxford Endovascular and Psyomics) led the round by investing £1.5 million. The investor also led the secured £1 million seed round back in 2022. In addition, the company was awarded a £0.7 million grant from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, as part of its Investor Partnerships Programme.

Founded by Emanuela Maggioni (with Italian roots) and Marianna Obrist in 2019 as a spinout from the University of Sussex and associated with University College London, the tech startup has developed proprietary technology to redefine the way humans experience smell. This latest funding round will allow OW to conduct extensive validation studies for sleep interventions, train its AI algorithms using biofeedback, and commit additional investment in IP to complement its multiple granted and pending patents relevant to sleep tech and other markets.

The company already claims ot beone of the world’s first digital platforms for creating and delivering scents by combining AI and scent databases with new hardware to print smells. Further, it plans to licence its AI platform and hardware technology to industry partners to deliver personalised scents for enhancing sleep. 

Speaking to TFN, Emanuela Maggioni – CEO & Co-Founder of OW, said, “AI as a technology block has huge potential in the sleep tech industry and equally the specific ScentTech sector within that, in which OW is a leader. ML and AI are opening up capabilities of predictions and data integration merging patterns from individual real-time biofeedback with many other core variables around sleep, user profile and environment.

OW’s AI engine has been in development for over 5 years. Able to model multiple scent designs through the sleep cycle but taking into account all the huge factors noted above using predictive modelling and database analysis to deliver highly optimised and individual point solutions.”

Further, OW’s innovative scent technology has been validated by academics and already deployed in real-world environments including in healthcare and research settings, along with R&D programmes by major corporations including top-tier FMCGs. John Pearson, Chief Investment Officer at Parkwalk Advisors, said: “OW is a fantastic example of the cutting-edge technology created in UK universities. OW is helping to bring the experience of smell in line with major advances in both video and sound. Digitalising smell and delivering personalised scents into homes is a major step forward in immersive experiences and has vast potential.”

What do we think about OW Smell Made Digital?

The company is poised to revolutionise the digital scent landscape with its groundbreaking technology and improve sleep. By integrating AI with scent databases and innovative hardware, OW aims to enhance immersive experiences across various industries, from digital media to healthcare. Its focus on sleep tech, using biofeedback to deliver personalised scents, showcases the profound impact of olfactory stimulation on wellbeing. This innovation heralds a new era in the metaverse and beyond, transforming sensory experiences.

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