O'Shaughnessy Ventures Backs Researcher Teaching Machines to Smell

Alistair Pernigo receives an O'Shaughnessy Fellowship to research how machines can identify the chemicals in the air around them

GREENWICH, Conn., Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- O'Shaughnessy Ventures LLC (OSV), an investment firm that empowers creators, has awarded an O'Shaughnessy Fellowship to Alistair Pernigo, a researcher and entrepreneur based in San Francisco, California.

Pernigo will use the fellowship to research how machines can detect and interpret the chemical signals in their surroundings. Over the next 12 months, he plans to further develop his working sensing prototype and validate its performance through controlled experiments with academic collaborators. His broader ambition is to make chemical perception a practical capability for machines, with potential applications in robotics, industrial safety and biosecurity.

Pernigo is a research affiliate in the Multisensory Intelligence group at the MIT Media Lab, where he works on machine olfaction and molecular sensing. He co-authored the SmellNet paper, which introduces a public dataset for smell recognition covering 50 substances and 43 mixtures across roughly 828,000 data points.  The paper was published at the International Conference on Learning Representations in 2026. He is also a co-founder of Timeless Way, a science and technology lab studying how living and engineered systems perceive and respond to their environments.

OSV's founder and CEO, Jim O'Shaughnessy, commented, "Alistair's approach to the stubborn problem of training machines to smell may just be the thing that finally unlocks it for researchers. We're delighted to get the chance to support his work."

"Being part of the OSV community means a lot to me," said Pernigo. "It gives me the support and momentum to take our work further: making chemistry a native sense for machines. I'm excited to build alongside people who recognize strange ideas as early signals of what comes next."

About the O'Shaughnessy Fellowships Program

Launched in 2023, the O'Shaughnessy Fellowships program discovers and empowers the world's boldest creatives, builders and researchers. Fellows receive a grant of up to $100,000 and gain access to OSV's network of founders, investors and experts.

Pernigo is the twenty-second fellow announced in 2026. More information about previous fellows is available at OSV's website.

Applications for the O'Shaughnessy Fellowships are now closed and will reopen on Jan. 1, 2027. Individuals interested in applying can do so via OSV's website.

About O'Shaughnessy Ventures

OSV is a creative investment firm that empowers creators to bring their ideas to life. Founded by Jim O'Shaughnessy, a pioneer in quantitative investing, founder of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, and author of five books, OSV aims to provide financial support and to partner in growing the next life-changing creative ideas.

OSV combines Jim's deeply rooted interest in all things art, science, investing and technology with his long-held desire to establish scenarios designed to help promising creators and their inspiring ideas succeed, regardless of age, location, job history or level of education. For more information, visit OSV's website.

Media Contact:
Ena Gong
O'Shaughnessy Ventures LLC
(917) 355-7420
[email protected]

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SOURCE O'Shaughnessy Ventures