NZ company unlocking power of insect-smell closes $3.5 million raise

Auckland, New Zealand Thurs, September 28 - Scentian Bio, the first company in the world to combine insect odorant receptors with electronics to create a synthetic ‘insect nose’, today announced the close of its $3.5 m NZD seed funding round. 

The round was led by international tech VC funds Finistere Ventures and Toyota Ventures, the VC arm of Toyota Motor corporation, as well as support from Icehouse Ventures, Our Crowd, and others. 

Scentian Bio has developed a patented biosensor technology based on insect olfactory receptors (iOR), creating a detection tool whose nose outpaces sensitivity of even the best beagle by 1000x.  Using artificial intelligence, Scentian Bio can process and interpret signals from its biosensors drawing from nature and the neuronal network that an insect uses to interpret smell. With a library of dozens of unique receptors that effectively recognize the diversity of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Scentian Bio delivers critical information quickly, accessibly, and at significantly lower cost than previous “e-nose” sensors.  

Scentian Bio CEO, Jonathan Good said the platform “harnesses 400 million years of evolution into an easy-to-use handheld sensor”. 

“Biosensors are finally breaking out of the lab and changing our everyday lives. Given the huge wealth of chemical information that smell is designed to process, we see the potential for smell biosensors to deliver tremendous value and are excited to have the investors on board to help make this happen,” said Good. 

Scentian Bio is the result of 19 years of mahi at Plant & Food Research by CTO Dr Andrew Králíček, which has allowed it to emerge from theory into the promise of  massive commercial opportunity.   

The technology has a wide variety of use cases including, food and flavour quality control and food-pathogen detection, non-invasive rapid disease diagnostics, sustainable farming and environmental and wellness monitoring.  

To date, Scentian Bio has raised a total of $7.2million in funding, including US $1.7 million in grant funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Scentian Bio will use the additional seed funding to grow its team, further the development of its technology platform and accelerate commercialization plans for its industry-specific solution offerings – first starting with the food industry and then moving into the medical sector and beyond. 

Icehouse Ventures partner, Jo Wickham said it was incredible to see such a world-leading science based technology business emerging from New Zealand. 

“Andrew and his team are the literal definition of Promethean scientists, unlocking the mysteries and potential of nature through biomimicry. We are excited to see 20 years of scientific research by one of NZ’s leading research institutes commercialised with an experienced CEO like Jonathan. At Icehouse Ventures, we seek out ventures with exceptional teams that possess unique insights and target large markets. For us, Scentian Bio is all three and we’re thrilled to support them in their pursuit of digitising the sense of smell.,” said Wickham. 

Based on early success in pre-market testing with a global food company, Scentian Bio will focus first on launching a quality control solution for the food industry.  

Its first digital biosensor solution, expected to launch commercially at the end of 2024, will provide fast quality control of the smell and taste attributes for key food ingredients. Initially focusing on essential oils, Scentian Bio plans to expand its quality control solutions to include other key ingredients over time.  

To date, Scentian Bio has been able to synthesise a library of 52 insect olfactory receptors, reach sensitivity at the femtomolar level (equivalent to one water droplet in 20,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools), demonstrate digital response on six types of transducers, and prove its ability to use a combinatorial response to distinguish two bacteria critical to food quality.  

Toyota Ventures, general partner, Jim Adler added, “Insects, shaped by 400 million years of evolution, have perfected the art of detecting organic compounds through scent receptors that contain sensitivity levels a million times better than humans and a thousand times better than dogs. Scentian Bio's team of world-class scientists and biosensor technologists is bringing how insects smell to market. We’re excited to support them as they apply this amazing technology to food, flavour, fragrances, and wellness.” 

Watch this video to learn more about a new way to sense the world and how Scentian Bio plans to lead a scent data revolution.  

About Scentian Bio 

Scentian Bio, the first smell and taste digitization innovator to overcome early e-nose limitations, combines insect olfactory receptors with nanotechnology and artificial intelligence to deliver ultra-sensitive taste and smell solutions for the food and health industries. Spun out from New Zealand’s Plant & Food Research, its biosensor platform leverages patented technology based on decades of scientific research to make the real-time, portable interpretation of complex chemical signatures possible. Based in New Zealand and backed by top foodtech and biotech investors, Scentian Bio is led by a team of global leaders in insect olfaction and biosensor technology. For more information visit www.scentianbio.com