Israeli startup uses personalized scents to fight insomnia

Kimba, an Israeli startup founded by Ben Foxbrunner and CTO Gabi Beck, has raised a $6.5 million seed round and is preparing to open early orders in the United States this week. The company has built an AI-based sleep system that releases personalized scents during the night to improve sleep quality and recovery.

Foxbrunner, 31, is a Unit 888 K-9 and canine handler veteran who was critically wounded in Operation Protective Edge and later developed post-traumatic stress and chronic insomnia. He named the company after his dog Kimba, who was injured in the fighting, helped save his life, and did not survive. Foxbrunner and Beck, both mechanical engineering students at Tel Aviv University, began researching the link between smell and sleep while he was looking for a solution for himself.

The system places a device near the bed and uses three capsules containing compounds developed from natural ingredients. It reads real-time physiological data from smartwatches and built-in sensors, including breathing patterns, movement, heart-rate variability, and stress indicators, then adjusts the scent type, blend, intensity, and timing without waking the user. Users first complete a questionnaire online and receive a starter kit, after which the scent set is updated every three months as more data is collected.

Kimba says one clinical study with 50 participants over 48 nights, conducted with the University of Haifa and led by Prof. Peretz Lavie and Dr. Anat Arzi, found a 21% improvement in cognitive performance on scented nights and self-reported sleep improvement from 86% of participants. Two more clinical studies are now underway, one using EEG and polysomnography, and another testing sleep, recovery, and mental health among discharged soldiers with PTSD. Foxbrunner said, “We live in an era of a global epidemic of stress and sleep disorders,” adding that he uses the system nightly and now sleeps well. The product is in beta, and preorders in the U.S. will cost $299 for a six-month subscription; early registration has also opened in Israel.