Growing up with allergies to peanuts and other nuts, Amanda Sichon struggled with severe eczema her whole life—and was told to get steroid injections every two weeks.
Fed up, she experimented with creating an organic skincare regime–and cured the problem in three days.
“I was not okay with being on steroids my entire life,” she says.
Sichon didn’t know that those challenges would lead to opportunity.
After getting her BA in chemistry at New York University and an MS in cosmetic chemistry at Fairleigh Dickinson University, she became a technical manager at the Swiss fragrance company Givaudan.
There, she met Seda Bilginer, a sales executive who had studied chemistry at Rutgers University.
Besides their shared interest in fragrance and natural products, they discovered common bond: Both were first-generation Americans.
Bilginer’s parents were immigrants from Turkey, where she had spent summers at her grandparents’ farm.
Sichon’s parents had immigrated from the Philippines.
They had soon come together and dreamed up Esas, a fine organic fragrance company based in Franklin Lakes, N.J.
The company, staffed by the founders and three part-time employees, brings in seven-figure revenue, selling its fragrances online and through several boutiques.
It has raised a total of about $2 million from investors including friends and family and the venture capital firm Crescent Ridge Partners, based in San Diego, after participating in an accelerator run by Ad Astra Ventures, in which Crescent Ridge is a partner.
Amanda Sichon and Seda Bilginer came together in a quest to create organic fine fragrances that make perfume an option for consumers sensitive to traditional products.
“As a fund led by first-generation and immigrant women investors, supporting women founders who share that journey is deeply meaningful to us,” said Maria Gonzalez-Blanch, managing partner at Crescent Ridge, in a statement.
“Amanda and Seda’s story is the American dream: using grit, expertise, and vision to transform an industry and make it better for all of us.”
The brand’s unique formulations initially attracted the attention of the fund, according to Gonzalez-Blanch, who noted it was the first in the world to achieve the MADE SAFE certification — “a nearly impossible standard for this industry.”
The certification process screens products for more than 15,000 banned and restricted substances before deeming them safe for human beings and the environment.
“Fragrance touches our lives every day, yet most of it is made from undisclosed, petroleum-based chemicals,” Gonzalez-Blanch said.
“Esas is rewriting that story with transparency, safety, and true luxury.”
At a time that about one-third of the population in countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Australia and Sweden is sensitive to fragranced consumer products, Esas is part of a very small but expanding industry.
The global natural fragrances market, estimated at $16.7 million in 2024, is expected to grow to $21.6 million by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate of 2.9%, according to the research firm Market Growth Reports.
The biggest categories are fruit-, flower- and spice-derived fragrances.
The growth has been driven by increasing use of natural ingredients in personal care, cosmetics and household products and better technology that allows for improved extraction and stabilization of natural fragrances, according to the research.
However, despite particular interest from younger consumers, there are constraints, such as the high cost and limited availability of sought-after ingredients, complex regulations, and allergen-labeling expenses, the report notes.
In contrast, the overall fragrance industry was many times larger, valued at $55.91 billion in 2024, according to the same firm’s research.
Esas sells fine fragrances made without synthetics and hormone disruptors.
Esas’ founders have had to navigate many challenges since they began their early work on the company in 2017, financing it through their salaries.
They went out on their own by 2020.
Starting out selling “Kolonya” — moisturizing, scented hand cleaners made with hyaluronic acid — they eventually branched out to synthetic-free, all-natural scents made from botanicals, such as “Sweet Cream & Vanilla” and “Sandalwood and Citrus.”
Besides perfumes, they make deodorant body sprays, room sprays and candles.
Given the cost of the ingredients, these sell for more than traditional products.
For instance, the deodorant body spray is $45 for 1.7 ounces.
Esas markets the brand on social media, through influencers and on the company’s website, which includes a glossary of ingredients, such as grape leaf tincture from a local vineyard and Bok-choy derived chlorophyll, sourced from vertical farms.
Although the founders worked in the perfume industry in corporate America, making perfumes themselves required them to start from scratch.
“We had to figure out ourselves how to do everything, from raw-material sourcing to formulation to production to manufacturing to branding to reaching out to influencers,” says Bilginer.
Given that they were using very different ingredients from the traditional fragrance industry, they also had to come up with their own processes.
“Our fragrances are so natural they have almost nothing to do with conventional fragrance,” says Sichon.
As the company has grown, one big question they have had to address is which fragrances customers will like—a challenge given that scent is often a mood-based purchase.
“The short answer is you don’t really know—there is no perfect formula,” says Bilginer.
They test their concoctions with friends and family as well as with the public in places like Washington Square Park in New York City.
They self-financed the business initially, a challenge given that they need to safety-test each product in a laboratory.
So, as the brand picked up traction, they raised capital.
“I don’t think anyone can prepare you for the financial limitations you’re going to experience when you start your own business,” says Bilginer.
To keep costs down, the founders currently run the company very lean, with three part-time employees and contractors.
They keep their team lean by outsourcing work such as digital marketing.
They rely on a fulfillment center about an hour from their headquarters and a shipping company in Florida to get products to customers.
All of this is a lot of work, but one big reward, says Sichon, is the feedback they get from fans who had sworn off perfumes because of sensitivities.
“We have customers who are amazed they can wear fragrances again,” says Sichon.
Gonzalez-Blanch anticipates the fragrance industry will start paying attention.
“Just like organic food reshaped what we eat, I believe safe fragrance can and should become the new industry standard,” she said.
“Amanda and Seda are doing what the industry said was impossible, creating clean fragrances that are safe, lasting, and beautiful.
That kind of authentic innovation is exactly what we love to back.”