We are Hynt.
Shaping the future of scent
Scent can supercharge sleep. It can calm, relax, restore and gently awaken. At Hynt we believe in the potential of scent to transform the way we rest, making sleep easier, deeper and more restorative. We are here to unlock that potential.
Founded by leading experts in olfaction and sensory science Dr Emanuela Maggioni and Prof Marianna Obrist, Hynt is the evidence-based scent tech company changing the way we understand, experience and use scent to optimise sleep.
A scent is a unique combination of molecules, detected by the receptors in your nose and interpreted by your brain, inducing specific emotional and physical responses. Our groundbreaking scent tech can design and deliver precision-targeted scents to activate those responses. The result is a bespoke, scent-driven sleep journey for every stage of rest, from settling down to drifting off, from REM, to awakening fully refreshed.
Sleep is the foundation of health and happiness, but it’s only the start for us. There are endless scent applications for multiple industries. Today we are focused on scent for sleep. Tomorrow we will harness the power of scent for every part of life.
Our team
Dr Emanuela Maggioni
CEO/CTO & Co-Founder
Emanuela is a leading expert in olfaction and sensory science with over 18 years research and consultancy experience, including working with Unilever, Benetton and IFF. With over 50 scientific publications and a PhD in Psychology of Smell Perception and Emotions, she is also a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellow and Honorary Research Fellow at the UCL Department of Computer Science.
Prof. Marianna Obrist
CSO & Co-Founder
Marianna is Professor of Multisensory Interfaces at the UCL Department of Computer Science and Deputy Director for digital health for the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering. She is internationally recognised for groundbreaking research in human-computer interaction, is co-author of Multisensory Experiences: where the senses meet technology, and secured funding from industry and government funding bodies such as ERC, UKRI, and Innovate UK.
Nimrata Boora
COO
Nim has over 14 years’ finance experience working with early-stage deep tech companies. She held CFO and board level leadership positions in a number of venture backed university spinouts and start-ups, including Redux, which successfully exited in 2017. Nim trained and qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloitte, specialising in tech sector SME audit.
Paul Smith
Head of Business Strategy
Paul has over 25 years experience in senior executive roles in high volume, international consumer electronics and tech businesses. He was on the executive board of Imagination Technologies and CEO & co-founder of Pure International for over 15 years – growing it to become the biggest global digital radio company. He helped set up the commercial operations for Yoto, and currently holds roles at SAB Power and Rithum Limited.
Mike Hollier
Chair
Mike is an experienced executive who has built world class multidisciplinary teams and created multiple businesses supported by extensive new IP. Until 2024 he was VP Technology Incubation at Dolby Laboratories, including 9 years in Silicon Valley, with a focus on innovation for growth. Previously he was founder/CEO/CTO of VC backed start-up Psytechnics Ltd, and before that a Technical Group Leader at BT Labs pioneering new voice and video quality measurements.
Florin Udrea
Director & Technical Advisor
Florin is Professor in Semiconductor Engineering and head of the High Voltage Microelectronics & Sensors Laboratory at Cambridge University. He is the author of more than 400 patents, founder of five companies and recipient of a number of prestigious prizes – elected a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering in 2015, he has been awarded the Silver Medal from the RAEng and the Mullard medal from the Royal Society in 2018, amongst others.
Andreas Keller
Scientific Advisor
Andreas is a New York-based academic with PhDs in Neuroscience and Philosophy and world-leading expert in olfactory perception, with high impact publications in Science, PNAS, and Current Biology. He has over a decade of experience in Olfactory Psychophysics and clinical aspects of olfaction. He is the author of The Philosophy of Olfactory Perception and the owner of Olfactory Art Keller, an art gallery dedicated to olfactory art.
Pablo Meyer
Bio-Computational Advisor
Pablo is manager of the Biomedical Analytics and Modeling group at the IBM Center for Computational Health and is an expert in applying AI to biological/biomedical problems such as Systems Biology, Olfaction and Disease/Digital Health. He is a Director of DREAM challenges, has a PhD in Genetics from the Rockefeller University and was awarded a Helen Hay Whitney fellowship as a postdoctoral fellow in Columbia University.
