CUNY-born digital olfaction technology developer MouSensor will receive funding and expertise from nanoelectronics institute Imec's investment fund.
MouSensor, a US-based digital olfaction technology developer based on City University of New York (CUNY) research, has received $3.3m in a seed round co-led by Imec’s investment fund, Imec.xpand.
Alexandria Venture Investments, the strategic investment arm of life sciences real estate trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities., co-led the round. New York state-sponsored VC firm New York Ventures and angel investor Elma Hawkins also took part.
Founded in 2016, MouSensor is developing a chip containing technology that it claims can detect, discover and digitise every smell on Earth. The chip will be used to create a digital database of scents, providing an objective measurement of odours for the fragrance and flavouring industries.
MouSensor believes the technology could also help identify odours associated with diseases such as Parkinson’s. It has now established a subsidiary in Imec’s native Belgium to oversee a collaboration aimed at embedding the olfactory technology onto silicon chips.
The company was co-founded by Paul Feinstein, an associate professor at CUNY’s Center for Translational and Basic Research who leads a neurogenetics lab researching matters including olfaction. Feinstein was helped by one of his senior research associates, Charlotte D’Hulst, who is now also CEO of MouSensor.
MouSensor previously received an unspecified amount of funding from Alexandria Venture Investments’ Seed Capital Platform, and is a participant in the corporate’s LaunchLabs incubator.
Luc Van den hove, chief executive of Imec, said: “We are fascinated by MouSensor’s approach which aligns with our vision to bring the power of chip technology to the domain of life sciences and to push the boundaries of the impossible.”