Osmo recently launched AI-powered scent sensors built to authenticate products, including Air Jordan sneakers, in ways barcode and radio frequency identification tags never could. — Photo via PR Newswire
By Joshua Burd
A startup that uses artificial intelligence to create and detect smells has leased more than 58,000 square feet at a new industrial building in Elizabeth.
The company, Osmo, will occupy the space at 585 Kapkowski Road under a deal with Bridge Industrial and Elberon Development Group. The Lux Capital- and Google Ventures-backed firm is relocating from the Alexandria Center for Life Science in New York and will use the new 58,488-square-foot building as its first production site that will include office, manufacturing, research and distribution space.
JLL’s Chris Hile and Doug Rodenstein represented ownership at the property, part of a four-building, 217,344-square-foot complex off New Jersey Turnpike Exit 13A and less than a half-mile from Port Newark-Elizabeth. Newmark’s Brian Waterman, David Waterman, Al Petrillo, Christopher Koeck and Zach Brenner represented Osmo, which was founded in early 2023 with a mission to give computers a sense of smell to improve human health and happiness, combining expertise in AI, chemistry and engineering to bring scent into the digital age, according to its website, while Rock Brook is spearheading the engineering design for mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection as well as information technology and security design.
The startup recently launched Generation by Osmo, which it describes as the world’s first and only fragrance house powered by olfactory intelligence, or OI, casting it as a technology that “can read and write a scent” in the way that AI can read and write text and images. Among Generation’s potential users are businesses that want to develop perfume for the purposes of distinguishing themselves, a task that would typically require the help of a traditional fragrance house that can be costly and elusive.
“Generation is the beginning of a new era,” the company wrote in a recent blog post. “With OI, we’re giving people everywhere the tools to capture their story in a scent — and to create the scent memories of the 21st century.
“We’ve been building to this moment for nearly three years. We hope the impact will last for generations.”
Last fall, Osmo launched AI-powered scent sensors built to authenticate products in ways barcode and radio frequency identification tags never could, according to a news release. It demonstrated the technology by using it to distinguish between authentic and fake Air Jordan sneakers.
