Are we going to be downloading smells online soon? Tel Aviv-based company Moodify on Monday said it had raised $8 million to digitize the sense of scent.
The investment round is being led by consumer-goods giant Procter & Gamble, Moodify said in a press release.
Moodify’s platform was developed in collaboration with leading researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. It enables molecular-level accurate control in the design of scent through the use of neural-network machine learning.
The technology is based on 15 years of research by the Weizmann Olfactory Research Group with novel AI used to predict protein interactions with human cells.
While other companies that have tried to create an online scent experience have failed, Moodify says it is taking a new approach. By utilizing advanced subsets of deep learning, the company has discovered a connection between certain physicochemical features of scent molecules and the way they are perceived by humans.
This groundbreaking capability enables companies to digitally communicate and print scents via the Internet, it said. Moodify’s technology also enables users to effectively and selectively control malodor.
Moodify also recently launched a malodor control solution for cat owners’ litter boxes (branded Moodify Pet), designed to eliminate odors from homes. Thousands of customers have already purchased the product, and they credit it with improving their home lives significantly, the company said.
Moodify was founded in 2017 by Yigal Sharon and Dr. Yaniv Mama and currently employs 25 researchers in its R&D center in Tel Aviv. Following the round, Moodify will recruit about 20 additional R&D employees, it said. The company already works with some of the world’s leading Fortune 500 companies in the consumer-goods and food industries, it said.
Investors in the company include Toyota Ventures, OurCrowd, Next Gear Venture Partners and Taisho Pharmaceuticals. The funds will be used to further develop its deep-learning algorithms and databases to improve Moodify scent prediction and malodor control capacities for full commercialization, the company said.
“We are very excited to have a world-class group of investors and partners giving this vote of confidence and working together with us to enhance Moodify’s AI capabilities to an even higher level of accuracy and efficacy and bring the revolution of digital scent to consumers within the coming years,” Sharon said.