NextScent Inc. is out to shake up the billion-dollar home scenting category. But this company isn’t just throwing scent in the air with another plug-in device. Founder David Amaral says his units are safer, smarter alternatives to fragrance plugins, diffusers and candles—and they purify the air, too.
 
Amaral—a scent marketing industry veteran with more than a quarter century of experience under his belt—believes NextScent and its Ventus line can change the scent distribution and air purification game. The secret is a fragrance distribution system that distributes certified allergen- and CMR-free fragrances while purifying the air.
 
The company’s Ventus Go, a personal portable air purification and fragrance system, has been on the market for about a year; its new Ventus Home and Ventus Ion units are expected to debut this month.
 
Amaral is a former executive at ScentAir, an environmental scent marketing company that worked with major brands and businesses helping diffuse scents in their properties. He helped build ScentAir from a stage 2 startup in 2005 with eight employees to a global enterprise with nearly 500 staff with offices in seven countries. During that time, Amaral helped develop and deploy brand scent programs for Marriott, The Ritz Carton, Westin, Shangri-La Hotels, Las Vegas Sands, Melco Resorts, Zara Home, Pandora Asia and many more lodging establishments. He left ScentAir in 2017 when it was acquired by second venture capital group.
 
Smells Like a Comeback
 
Amaral didn’t plan to get back into business, but his passion for the market was reignited when he was asked to join a small investment group evaluating a scent marketing company. While he didn’t invest

in the company, Amaral told Happi he was inspired to build a company that would offer a safe, environmentally responsible option.
 
The Ventus product line uses dry-evaporation. 
 
“Essentially, we pass air over a special material that is infused with fragrance oil. As the air passes over the material, it evaporates the fragrance and carries it into the air stream. Very few companies use this process because every fragrance evaporates at different rates and it is very difficult to have a consistent intensity over time. Dry-evaporative systems tend to be very strong at the beginning and get weaker over time. We developed several technologies that solve this problem including; how we control the air, the material used to hold the fragrance, and the formulation of the fragrance,” Amaral said.
 
The Ventus Go is a multi-function portable air care system that incorporates an air quality sensor, air purifier and scent diffuser into a compact and portable device with its own internal battery. 
 
“It’s about the size of a 16oz water bottle so it can fit in an automotive cup holder and it’s strong enough to scent an average room or office. It utilizes replaceable cartridges that can provide air purification/odor elimination, air purification/scent, and it works with natural insect repellent cartridges,” said Amaral.
 
The Ventus Home and Ventus Ion automatically adjust the output for each specific fragrance based on the fragrance properties, usage and customer settings to ensure consistent performance over the life of each scent cartridge, according to the Fort Mill, SC-based company
 
According to Amaral, traditional scent systems that rely on flame, heat, aerosols, oil or wax, breakdown natural fragrance components. They can dangerous, harm furniture and contribute to indoor air pollution, he says.
 
“These products, as well as most electronic diffusers, typically scent a small area and are not environmentally friendly,” he added.
 
Amaral is also more focused on indoor air quality issues, too, and as such wanted to develop a way to purify the air and distribute fragrances that “set a new standard for safety.”
 
The new Ventus Home and Ion systems are whole home systems capable of delivering scent to 1,500 square feet. With the NextScent app, users can schedule when they want to scent their home and at the intensity they prefer. The system provides automatic alerts when the cartridge needs to be replaced and keeps track of the run hours when the users change fragrances, according to the company. 
 
The Ventus Ion uses the same case as the Ventus Home, but incorporates a high-output negative ion generator for enhanced air purification, according to the company. It also includes an air quality monitor that provides real-time indoor air quality readings and alert users via the app or text message when the air quality becomes poor or hazardous, said Amaral.
 
The company currently has two patents pending with more than 22 specific claims, according to Amaral.
 
Current scents are grouped in collections—Resort, Fresh Air, Gourmand, Essential Oil, Grund American and Insect Repellant. Grund features three scents: Lemon-Patchouli, Mandarin Fresh and Essential Prague (described as a sophisticated and worldly fragrance inspired by cultural Europe and the national flower of Prague, the rose). A fragrance sample kit is available too, which provides users with 15 scents.
 
The company has a campaign running on Kickstarter. 
 
“Our retail strategy for 2022 is to partner with retailers and fragrance product brands who want to offer their customers the next generation in scent solutions,” Amaral said. 
 
He told Happi the plan is to model Keurig’s coffer maker; retailer brands can offer their custom fragrances to work in the Ventus systems, he said.
 
“At the end of the day, it is all about delivering fragrances customers love. Our systems just deliver it better,” he insisted.