Startup story: Fragnatique X Tehnopol Startup Accelerator

Each year, dozens of high-potential startups develop their products and services in Tehnopol’s accelerator programmes. One of the teams currently participating in the Startup Accelerator is Fragnatique.

Fragnatique is an AI-powered perfume advisor designed to bring the kind of personalisation familiar from Spotify or Netflix into fragrance discovery. The platform learns a user’s scent preferences, builds a personal scent map and recommends fragrances they may never have discovered on their own – while also explaining why a particular scent may suit them, rather than simply returning a score.

Fragnatique is being built by Appthos Studio. Ömer Kadir Kurt, Founder and CEO, developed the matching algorithm and Scent Graph at the core of the product, while Erdinç Karabekir, Co-Founder and CMO, leads the company’s brand, growth and partnerships. They shared more about Fragnatique’s journey.

How did you come up with the idea to create a startup?

“Long before Fragnatique, Ömer was already obsessed with fragrance. Almost every month he brought a new bottle and a new set of notes to imagine, compare and chase. Blind buys did not always go well, but even the disappointments made the search more interesting.

One evening, we were sitting with friends who shared the same obsession. Everyone had brought a few of their favourite fragrances, and we realised that none of us had discovered our favourites entirely by chance. There had always been something – or someone – pointing us towards them.

That thought stayed with us. Spotify can learn what you listen to and introduce you to music you have never heard. Netflix can do the same with films. Why couldn’t fragrance work the same way? That was the beginning of Fragnatique.”

What have been the biggest challenges or failures, and the biggest wins so far?

“The hardest part was that we understood the problem very well, but there was no ready-made path for solving it. People often stand in front of shelves full of perfumes and try to work out which one might suit them. A fragrance can sound perfect from its notes and then smell completely different on your skin. Blind buys can end with bottles you never use. Yet no product had really tried to understand something as personal as scent using artificial intelligence.

For a long time, we kept asking ourselves whether we were solving a genuinely large problem or simply one that felt large because it was so familiar to us. Then, at a global mobile app event in Turkey, we put Fragnatique in front of people who had never heard of us. They described their preferences, looked through the recommendations and began recognising perfumes they already owned and genuinely loved. Again and again, we heard the same question: ‘How did it know?’

That was the turning point. We no longer had to explain what the product could do – people were discovering it themselves. Being selected by Tehnopol as one of nine startups from 97 applications became another strong validation of that journey.”

What sets Fragnatique apart from competitors?

“Most tools in this space begin with the question: what fragrances exist? We wanted to begin somewhere else: which one is right for you, and why?

Choosing a fragrance is not really about finding a bottle from a catalogue. It is about finding something that feels like you. A fragrance can be beautiful on paper and completely wrong on your skin. Another may sit unnoticed on a shelf for years simply because the right person never comes across it.

Fragnatique is trying to bridge that gap. For users, it means building a scent map that becomes more personal over time and helps them understand not only what they like, but why they like it. For fragrance houses, it means helping every scent in their portfolio reach the people most likely to genuinely appreciate it. We are not simply recommending fragrances to people; we are helping fragrances find the people they were made for.”

Why did you apply to the Tehnopol Startup Accelerator?

“There comes a point in building a startup when proving that the idea works is no longer enough. The next question is how far you can take it. We had reached that point with Fragnatique. We had built the product and started seeing people understand its value. What we needed next was experience, connections and perspective to turn that early momentum into something much bigger. That is what brought us to Tehnopol.

Tehnopol brings together investors, tech companies, industry connections and people who have already taken ideas from Estonia to the world. For us, that made it the right place for Fragnatique’s next chapter.

The programme has already started to deliver on that promise. Being surrounded by people with deep experience in technology, startups and investment – including people like Raido Pikkar – gives us a different perspective on the decisions ahead and how to take Fragnatique further.”

Where do you see your startup in 1 year? And in 5 years?

“We want Fragnatique to become the place where people understand their own scent preferences, discover fragrances they would never have found on their own, and understand why those fragrances fit them.

In one year, we want to see the beginning of a new habit: people around the world turning to Fragnatique before buying a fragrance, in the same way they already use technology to decide what to watch, listen to or read next.

In five years, we want that behaviour to feel completely natural. We see Fragnatique becoming the intelligence layer of fragrance – connecting people with scents that fit them while helping fragrance houses bring every creation in their portfolio to the people most likely to love it.”

Who is the next Estonian unicorn?

“The next Estonian unicorn, in our eyes, will not necessarily come from the loudest company or the most crowded market. It will come from a team that notices something everyone else has learned to live with, asks why it has to remain that way, and quietly builds a better answer.

That is usually how meaningful companies begin – not with a grand prediction, but with a small realisation that refuses to go away.

We may be slightly biased, but we like to believe that some of those teams are already around us: building patiently, testing relentlessly and waiting for the moment when the world finally understands what they saw earlier. Perhaps the next one is already being built in Tallinn. And whatever they are building, we hope it smells very, very good.”

Which books, podcasts, publications and people in your field do you follow and recommend to other aspiring entrepreneurs?

“Robert Greene, above all Mastery. It is one of the books that best captures what building something truly great requires: a long apprenticeship, patience, repetition and the willingness to keep learning when nobody is watching. We would recommend Mastery to any aspiring entrepreneur because building a startup is not very different from mastering a craft. You spend years learning, making mistakes, refining your instincts and slowly becoming better at what you do. We also follow his interviews and podcasts closely.”

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Tehnopol is currently accepting applications to the DeepTech Accelerator and the Film and Multimedia Accelerator. Read more and submit your applications!