Director – R&D Operations

Osmo raises $70M in Series B funding. Osmo, a NYC-based digital scent design company, raised $70M in Series B funding. The round was led by Two Sigma Ventures, with participation from new investors including Valor, Atreides, Amplo, Alumni Ventures, Collab Fund, Lumina Partners, and Patrick Collison (CEO and Co-Founder of Stripe), alongside existing investors. The company intends to use the funds to democratize scent design by scaling its proprietary AI-powered olfaction technology, Olfactory Intelligence, across multiple sectors. In conjunction with the funding announcement, Osmo expanded its new executive leadership team, strategically assembled to scale the company's commercial operations and market expansion. The new C-suite includes: * Mike Rytokoski, Chief Commercial Officer. * Mateusz Brzuchacz, Chief Operating Officer. * Nate Pearson, Chief Financial Officer. Additionally, the company added Boet Brinkgreve as an independent board member. Founded by CEO Alex Wiltschko, Osmo develops fragrances through a combination of proprietary molecular data, machine learning, and human artistry. It enables the entire product lifecycle from formula creation through manufacturing and packaging, allowing clients to scale efficiently from initial concept to market. The company is deploying its AI-powered olfaction technology to serve both global consumer product companies and emerging brand clients across commercial sectors. Applications include enabling enterprises to reduce fragrance costs and accelerate time-to-market, while empowering emerging brands to create custom fragrance development at accessible price points.

AI fragrance company Osmo raises $70 million. Osmo, an AI-powered scent design platform based in New York, announced a new $70 million funding round Wednesday as the company looks to scale its operations. The company will use the funds to expand its team and continue developing the AI models that are the foundation of its business, Osmo's founder and chief executive Alex Wiltschko told The Business of Beauty. The company, which spun out of an AI research project at Google in late 2022, uses AI to map the relationships between scents, allowing it to anticipate what a fragrance molecule would smell like from its structure, or plot it against other types of data. Wiltschko said Osmo can translate emotions or images into scents, or predict whether a scent is likely to be more successful with Gen Z or in North America. Powering these capabilities is a fleet of AI models that the company calls "olfactory intelligence," Wiltschko said. "We have already invested heavily from our Series A, and we're going to continue to invest very, very heavily in this technology stack." The new round of funding, which was led by Two Sigma Ventures with participation from others including Valor, Atreides, Amplo and Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison, brings Osmo's total raised to $130 million. As part of its expansion, Osmo also announced new hires in its C-suite, including a new chief commercial officer, chief operating officer and chief financial officer. AI has more generally become a fixture in the fragrance world and is used by large fragrance houses like Givaudan or IFF to help their perfumers formulate novel products. Wiltschko said Osmo's AI allows fragrance makers to develop new ideas far more quickly than they could in the past. It has helped customers like Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture create a scent in just a few months. Currently, it focuses primarily on creating scents for use in alcohol-based fragrances, which includes fine fragrance but also categories like room spray. Customers tend to be either very large consumer packaged goods players or small, independent brands, according to Wiltschko. Osmo also maintains a small R&D budget for other side projects, such as one that authenticates sneakers by their smell. It's also looking beyond fragrance creation toward applications for healthcare diagnostics and environmental monitoring, said Colin Beirne, a partner at Two Sigma Ventures and new Osmo board observer, in a release. Artificial intelligence is being used to create new ingredients and guide perfumers. But some say the technology doesn't pass the smell test.

January in review: PFAS and talc safety, CES beauty tech takeover, EU - India FTA. Key takeaways. * Ongoing debates and uncertainty surround safety assessments for chemicals in cosmetics. * The beauty industry is increasingly adopting AI and connected devices, which are revolutionizing product development. * Trade agreements like the EU - India FTA are reshaping global cosmetics markets by reducing tariffs and boosting industry growth. This month in industry news, the US FDA's long-awaited report on PFAS in cosmetics concluded that there was insufficient data for it to assess safety. Also, in government safety assessments, the UK issued a lung-toxicity warning for talc but stopped short of labeling it a carcinogen, a stance at odds with that of EU scientific advisors. Cosmetic companies experienced financial ups and downs as Estée Lauder reportedly considered selling Smashbox, Too Faced, and Dr. Jart+, and Saks Global filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Meanwhile, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026, beauty tools had a big moment, becoming a main feature of the show. In another innovation, Osmo and the Institute for In Vitro Sciences introduced an AI model that eliminates the need for animal testing in skin irritation assessments. Lastly, the historic "mother of all deals," EU - India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is expected to reduce tariffs on cosmetics. The US FDA determined that there is insufficient data to assess the safety of most PFAS chemicals used in cosmetics. The awaited congressionally mandated report, under the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022, resulted in no federal measures to regulate PFAS in cosmetics. In contrast, states such as Maine and Washington moved ahead independently with their own bans on PFAS in cosmetics. Washington's Department of Ecology told Personalcareinsights it placed bans to protect consumer safety. Europe has emerged as one of the most sustainable and strategically important regions for manufacturing cosmetics, underpinned by its stringent regulations and safety standards. Personalcareinsights spoke with the founder and CEO of Nisha Manufacturing about how imposing strict rules fuels manufacturers' commitment to quality and consumer satisfaction. She explained that the high amount of banned substances in the EU forces manufacturers to design products holistically, considering sourcing, toxicology, performance, and lifecycle at the formulation stage. Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) was reported to be considering selling Smashbox, Too Faced, and Dr. Jart+ as a package deal. The combined price was estimated in the low nine figures (US$100 million to US$199.99 million). The three brJessica Arnaly from Balchem shares the company's latest clinical findings on methylsulfonylmethane for skin care applications. ands, acquired during ELC's expansion in the 2010s, have faced underperforming sales. The potential move reflected broader struggles in ELC's makeup and skin care segments. At the CES 2026, cosmetics companies unveiled AI, connected devices, and skin diagnostics. The show is widely regarded as "the world's biggest tech event." This year, global cosmetics companies showed novel beauty technologies and consumer devices. The solutions were made in partnership with electronics and research leaders, underscoring the increasing importance of digital tools in beauty innovation. Drunk Elephant shifted away from trend-driven marketing to reestablish its original skin-first positioning, centred on simplicity, biocompatibility, and scientific reliability. Over the last few years, a combination of the brand's playful packaging and its TikTok trend status made it increasingly popular with younger consumer bases. But through its Please Enjoy Responsibly campaign, the brand promoted minimalist formulas to reconnect with its original consumer base. African beauty brands are gaining global attention, but industry voices say the rise of A-beauty will not follow the highly polished, trend-driven path of K-beauty. Instead, its global potential lies in formulas that prioritize performance and are rooted in heritage, climate realities, and regional diversity. Standard Beauty, Africana Skincare, and Natura Africa told Personalcareinsights the continent's rich biodiversity aligns with global clean and performance-led beauty trends, but structural, regulatory, and scaling challenges continue to slow international expansion. Saks Global filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leaving several major beauty and luxury groups owed millions. Chanel, Kering, Estée Lauder Companies, Beiersdorf, Puig, LVMH, and Europerfumes were named in as companies due money. The filing underscored mounting pressure on traditional department stores as shifting consumer behavior accelerates luxury brands' move toward direct-to-consumer models. Osmo and the Institute for In Vitro Sciences introduced an AI model that removes the need for animal testing in skin irritation assessments. Personalcareinsights spoke with the partners about how their research enhances the safety of cosmetic chemicals. Osmo called the new technology the "most accurate skin irritation prediction model to date." The study used AI to evaluate the skin-irritation potential of over 3,000 chemicals, using validated non-animal testing methods. The results generated safety data that would have required up to 19,134 rabbits under traditional approaches.IFF and Chemist Confessions explore why osmolytes remain under the radar, despite their proven effectiveness. UK regulators issued a lung toxicity warning for talc but stopped short of labeling it a carcinogen, citing insufficient evidence. The decision contrasted with EU scientific advisors, who have recommended classifying talc as a Category 1B carcinogen based on links to ovarian cancer and animal tumor data. The EU - India FTA is set to reduce tariffs on cosmetics, stimulate trade between the regions, and help India develop as a key hub for the global beauty industry. With the FTA expected to double EU exports to India by 2032, the deal is poised to boost the sector, backed by strong support from the French personal care trade union FEBEA. The current 22% tariff on cosmetics will be mostly removed after five or seven years.