Fragrance Innovation Summit 2026

Audrey Semeraro is the Founder and CEO of Edeniste, a pioneering fine fragrance house placing neuroscience and emotion at the heart of olfactory creation.
Raised between Paris and the French Riviera, near Grasse, in a family of scientists, she developed an early fascination with both science and fragrance. With Edeniste, she brings together neuroscientists, researchers and master perfumers around a shared ambition: to scientifically explore the remarkable connection between scent, the brain and emotions, and to open a new path in wellbeing perfumery.

Following several years of research and development, Edeniste launched exclusively at Harrods in London in 2022. The house has since been recognised for its innovative approach, receiving the Fragrance Foundation UK Award for Best Newcomer in 2023, the Fragrance Foundation UK Award for Innovation in 2025, and theHarper’s Bazaar Award for Best Wellbeing Product in 2025.

Through Edeniste, Audrey champions a vision of fine fragrance where creativity, emotion and scientific rigour come together to rethink what fragrance can make us feel.

Antoaneta Becker is a China market strategist and consumer insights expert with more than 20 years of experience living and working in China. She specializes in helping international beauty, fragrance, luxury, and lifestyle brands understand the cultural and consumer shifts shaping China’s rapidly evolving market.

Antoaneta has worked extensively with fragrance brands entering China, advising on consumer trends, market strategy, and brand positioning. She has also closely tracked the rise of Chinese fragrance brands and the emergence of a distinct local scent culture, offering unique insight into how Chinese consumers are redefining fragrance preferences and influencing global industry trends.

Most recently, as Director of Consumer Economy at the China-Britain Business Council, she advised British companies on market entry and growth strategies during a period of major transformation in China’s consumer economy. Previously, she spent a decade in Beijing as a journalist and analyst with organizations including the Economist Intelligence Unit and USA Today.

Fluent in Mandarin Chinese and a graduate of Peking University, Antoaneta combines deep market knowledge with first-hand experience of China’s evolving consumer landscape.

Dr Eloïse Gerardin is CEO and Scientific Director of Brain Impact Neuroscience, where she develops neuro-intelligence to guide brands’ strategic innovation decisions. Her work combines whole-brain fMRI, EEG and AI to understand how consumers respond to products across industries, including fragrance and skincare.

She studied and worked in Paris, conducting research with an INSERM team at the Institut de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences de Paris. She has over a decade of hospital experience, including in stroke care, and completed her PhD at UCLouvain on brain plasticity after stroke. Today, she brings her clinical and academic expertise to collaborations with brands and research partners.

Gaël Boutry is the founder of GBC – Global Beauty Consulting, which has joined the Superga Beauty group.

With more than 20 years of experience in the cosmetics industry, he combines expertise in formulation, regulatory affairs and industrial management. He supports brands and manufacturers in product development, regulatory compliance (EU Cosmetics Regulation, GMP, REACH) and the structuring of their production operations.

Gaël is also a trainer, sharing his know-how with professionals and artisans across the sector.

Mathilde Lion is Executive Director, Global Client Development and Europe Prestige Beauty analyst at Circana.

Her expertise is based on more than 25 years of experience in market research and 20 years in the world of beauty. Mathilde Lion joined Circana/The NPD Group in 2005 with the launch of our BeautyTrends ® panel in France. Before joining Circana, Mathilde worked at Dun & Bradstreet, Groupe Up and then Kantar Worldpanel.

Thomas Clémence is Scientific Manager at Aptar Beauty. After joining Aptar in 2006, he was entrusted in 2019 with an ambitious mission: creating the company’s expertise in fragrance chemistry from a blank page and strengthening the connection between formulation and dispensing systems. Although trained as a materials engineer, he embraced the challenge by building scientific expertise, developing research networks, establishing partnerships, and identifying the most promising areas of innovation. He has since specialized in alcohol-free fragrances and their integration into dispensing solutions, helping bridge the gap between formula and packaging. He is particularly focused on fragrance innovation and alternative fragrance formats.

Jason Ju Chunmao holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Software Engineering and English from Dalian University of Technology, and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Hong Kong.

He began his career in IT at Knight Frank Hong Kong (2009–2014), before co-founding Harmay Hong Kong in 2014 — one of China’s most prominent beauty retail brands. During his tenure as Co-Founder, Senior VP, and GM, he helped grow the company to RMB 900 million in revenue in 2021 and led it to a USD 1 billion valuation at its Series D round in early 2022, earning consecutive Forbes Unicorn recognition from 2022 to 2024.

Since leaving HARMAY’s operations in 2022, Jason has channeled his expertise into building and investing in premium lifestyle brands. He is currently Global COO of NuVous Paris, a high-end skincare brand he co-founded; CEO of Jus Tangerine, his own venture dedicated to bringing curated niche skincare and fragrance brands to the Chinese market; and CEO of TFx Tmall Fragrance, a joint venture with Alibaba focused on offline fragrance retail and brand development in China.

Ben Janoušek is the CEO of Kaorium across the UK and Europe, where he leads the launch of an AI-driven fragrance technology transforming how consumers discover and engage with scent.

He has spent more than 25 years in the global fragrance and beauty industries, building brands, scaling international distribution, and turning around businesses. His work sits at the intersection of retail, technology, and consumer experience, with a focus on commercialising innovation, driving market adoption, and delivering measurable business growth.

Avner Gal is a decorated Israeli Navy Commander, turned serial entrepreneur and innovation strategist, with more than 25 years of executive leadership in biotech, beauty tech, and wellness innovation. As CEO and Co-Founder of multiple technology ventures-including iRomaScents and Integrity Applications, Avner has redefined how human senses, data, and wellness intersect.
 
With academic roots in Electrical Engineering (BSc, Technion), Electronic Warfare (MSc, Naval Postgraduate School, USA), and an MBA in Marketing Management (University of Derby, UK), Avner blends deep technical expertise with commercial foresight. He has held C-suite roles in both private and public companies, successfully leading R&D, commercialization, and global expansion strategies.
 
A published author (NINGA™ – Your Path to Venture Success), multiple patent holder, and speaker at global tech and healthcare forums, Avner is recognized for turning cutting-edge science into scalable, human-centered solutions. His leadership helped bring to market GlucoTrack, a non-invasive glucose monitor, and now iRomaScents, an AI-powered fragrance platform revolutionizing scent sampling and consumer experience.
 
 Avner’s work reflects a commitment to emotional wellness, sustainable innovation, and functional beauty-championing technologies that don’t just enhance appearance, but uplift human experience.

A French cosmetics expert with a passion for all things beauty, she has built her career at Asia Cosme Lab, a leading Asian beauty consulting agency. Currently overseeing the South East Asian markets, she travels regularly to Indonesia, Thailand, and India, deepening her expertise across diverse beauty cultures.

Her key areas of interest include the rise of Halal Beauty, the fast-evolving Indian beauty market, and emerging global trends, as well as the dynamic East vs. West perspectives shaping the industry.

Passionate about scents, Isabelle Ferrand joined the fragrance creation and training company Cinquième Sens in 1985 to assist its founder, Monique Schlienger. She then discovered all the facets of the art of being a “creative perfumer”.

In August 2004, she took over the company with the aim of perpetuating and enriching its activities. Under her leadership, Cinquième Sens is today positioned at the crossroads of all olfaction-related professions.

Founder of Le Musc & La Plume, a consultancy specializing in fragrance creation and olfactory identity, Aurélie Dematons supports brands from concept to creation, including marketing, evaluation, training, and communication.

Her rich and varied career began at Coty before she specialized in fragrance formulation. She has since explored innovative areas of perfumery, from new fragrance techniques and scent diffusion in the air to applications beyond traditional beauty, including healthcare, hospitality, retail, and transportation. In 2017, she embarked on a world tour exploring aromatic plants, a transformative experience that profoundly influenced her perspective on the fragrance industry.

A specialist in brand storytelling and a talented writer, she contributes to the broader conversation around perfumery through her articles for Nez magazine. In 2023, she co-founded the Bureau du Parfum with Jérôme Herrgott, a Paris-based boutique dedicated to the distinctive world of niche fragrance.

Fascinated by fragrance since childhood, Sophie Normand launched her blog, Mybluehour, in 2008, where she shares her passion for this emotionally rich world.

After several years exploring selective and niche perfumery, she joined the Cinquième Sens’s L’Olfathèque. During this time, she completed the company’s Raw Materials and Formulation course, deepening her olfactory knowledge, developing an understanding of fragrance composition, and gaining hands-on experience in evaluation.

Sophie Normand currently writes for Fragrantica and Premium Beauty News, as well as for niche fragrance brands. Alongside her editorial work, she conducts olfactory training sessions and leads trend tours focused on the fragrance industry.

Kristel Milet has been specializing in the cosmetics and perfumes sector for more than 16 years. She has covered this industry in France and Europe, from manufacturers, brands, distributors, to trends, international markets and business strategies. She has collaborated with several professional media including Premium Beauty News and Brazil Beauty News for which she has teamed up with Vincent Gallon for 12 years.

Eva was educated from an engineering school in Shanghai but never had a chance to design a single automobile. However she is now happy to work in the most beautiful sector: cosmetics. After more than 10 years of experience as director of business development in supply chain, she created her own brand, Maison Dakota, in 2022.

Eva joined Premium Beauty Media as director of marketing and sales, which keeps her learning and inspired from every single brilliant person in the beauty sector.

Based in Paris, Vincent Gallon is Editor-in-Chief of Premium Beauty News and Brazil Beauty News, and CEO of Premium Beauty Media. He is a journalist, industry analyst and moderator covering the global cosmetics, fragrance and beauty industries, for several years.

Vincent studied political science and law at Sciences Po Lyon and Université Paris-Panthéon-Sorbonne, and holds a degree from emlyon business school. He began his career at the French Federation of Beauty Companies (FEBEA), before joining SoGeCos Bologna Fiere, organizer of Cosmoprof. In 2008, he co-founded Premium Beauty News, followed by MakeUp in Paris in 2009. He launched Brazil Beauty News in 2014 and founded the Fragrance Innovation Summit in Paris in 2017.