Fragrance tech startup Patina announced in May 2026 that it has raised $2 million in funding from investors including Betaworks and True Ventures. The New York-based company is developing new scent molecules using molecular design, machine learning, and scent research — entering a space it says has seen little innovation in the past half century.
Patina was founded by Sean Raspet, an artist and perfumer who began creating scent and flavor molecules as a creative pursuit, and Laura Sisson, who came from a background in food and software engineering. The two met at a scent art gallery in New York in 2024, where Raspet was exhibiting new molecules and Sisson was building olfactory learning models. They launched Patina the following year.
The company is building a foundational model called Sense1, designed to replicate the scent receptors in the nose and establish what it describes as “the first universal code of smell and taste.” The goal is to move beyond imprecise descriptors like “floral” or “woody” and work at the biological receptor level — enabling the creation of new molecules and synthetic alternatives to rare natural ingredients. Patina says its molecules can simulate the smell of rose oil, for example, without plant extraction, using less water and fewer petrochemicals in the process.
The company says it is already in talks with fragrance houses and fashion brands about custom scents. Supply-chain pressure is part of the context: natural ingredients like rose oil are becoming harder to source and more expensive, creating demand for synthetic alternatives.
The current funding will go toward launching new molecules, building partnerships, and expanding receptor activation data through collaborations with startups and academic labs. The new capital has already allowed the team to move from a home setup into an office in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where a small group of chemists is now based.
Raspet’s stated long-term goal is to create what he calls a “Pantone for scent” — a universal reference system for smell and flavor, similar to the color-matching standard used across design industries. Competitors in the space include startup Osmo and established fragrance giants Givaudan and Symrise.
Source: TechCrunch