Air Up: From University Project to Innovative Consumer Brand

What began as a student research project into neuroscience has become a fast-growing business that is changing how consumers think about flavour, hydration and healthy habits.

Some of the world's most successful products begin with a simple observation.

For Air Up, that observation was that people do not necessarily choose unhealthy food and drinks because they want sugar.

They choose them because they enjoy flavour.

That insight led two product design students at university to explore a question few had considered before.

Could flavour be experienced without adding anything to water?

Today, Air Up has grown from a university project into an international consumer brand operating across 14 markets and employing around 300 people, proving that some of retail's most disruptive ideas emerge from combining science with everyday consumer problems.

The Idea Started With Neuroscience, Not Bottles

When Lena Jüngst, Co-founder and inventor of Air Up, and her fellow product design student Tim Jäger began working on their bachelor's thesis at the University of Applied Sciences Schwäbisch Gmünd, they had no intention of designing a new drinking bottle.

Their thesis, titled Neuroscience Meets Design, was inspired by a TED Talk about how human sensory perception works and why it might need to be reconsidered for the world we live in today.

That research eventually led them to nutrition.

Although most people understand the importance of reducing sugar, salt and unhealthy ingredients, many still struggle to make healthier choices.

The founders believed the problem was less about knowledge than behaviour.

People naturally gravitate towards products that taste good.

That insight encouraged them to investigate whether flavour itself could be recreated in a healthier way.

Smell Shapes More of Flavour Than Most People Realise

Their research focused on retronasal olfaction, the process through which aromas travel from the mouth to the nose during eating and drinking.

Rather than relying solely on the tongue, the brain combines smell and taste to create what people perceive as flavour.

The founders wondered whether scent alone could provide the experience of flavour while people drank plain water.

The concept worked.

Their first prototype demonstrated that carefully designed aroma pods could create the perception of flavoured water without adding sugar or other ingredients directly to the drink.

It became the breakthrough that transformed an academic project into a business opportunity.

Designing Better Habits Through Creative Nudging

Air Up describes its philosophy as creative nudging.

Behavioural nudging is commonly used in retail to influence purchasing decisions, from product placement to store layouts.

Rather than applying those techniques to increase spending alone, Air Up wanted to use behavioural science to encourage healthier choices.

By making water feel more enjoyable to drink, the company aims to increase hydration without asking consumers to sacrifice flavour.

Instead of relying on willpower, the product attempts to reshape behaviour by making the healthier option feel naturally more appealing.

The idea reflects a broader shift in consumer products.

Increasingly, brands are looking beyond product functionality and designing experiences that help people build better habits with less conscious effort.

Building a New Category Was Never Guaranteed

Looking back, the idea may appear obvious.

At the time, it was anything but.

Before launch, many retailers questioned whether consumers would ever pay for scented water.

The concept challenged long-held assumptions about how flavour should be delivered, making it difficult for many buyers to understand the opportunity.

Despite that uncertainty, Air Up entered the market in 2019 with 80,000 starter sets.

For a team that had just left university, it was a significant commitment.

Lena had studied product design but had never taken a product to market at that scale before, making the launch both exciting and deeply uncertain.

Six Weeks Changed Everything

The company's defining moment came shortly after launch.

Its first marketing campaigns were far from perfect, Lena admits.

Yet the product resonated with consumers.

Air Up sold all 80,000 starter sets within six weeks, giving the founders confidence that they had created something capable of reaching a much larger audience.

Growth accelerated rapidly.

The company had around 10 people at the time of market launch, growing to approximately 30 employees by the end of its first year, 90 the following year, then 170, before eventually reaching around 300 employees today.

For many start-ups, finding product-market fit can take years.

For Air Up, those first six weeks fundamentally changed the trajectory of the business.

From Two Students to Five Founders

While the original concept was developed by Lena and Tim during their bachelor's thesis, the business was built by a broader founding team.

Approximately a year and a half after the initial prototype, Lena and Tim were joined by three additional co-founders who brought the expertise needed to bring the idea to market: Fabian Schlang, who contributed food technology knowledge, alongside Jannis Koppitz and Simon Nüesch, who provided the commercial and operational foundations the business needed to scale.

Together, the five co-founders applied for a scholarship, received it and used that as the catalyst to commit fully to building Air Up as a business.

The Future Extends Beyond Hydration

Although Air Up is best known for its drinking system, Lena believes the technology has applications well beyond bottled water.

The company continues to explore how olfaction could be applied across additional product categories, including food and health, while continuing to improve its existing products.

She also believes scent remains one of the least explored areas of consumer science.

Unlike vision, which has received decades of research and commercial attention, olfaction still offers significant opportunities for innovation.

Its connection to memory and emotion makes it particularly powerful for creating meaningful consumer experiences.

As retailers increasingly invest in sensory experiences, that understanding could influence everything from product development to store design and brand engagement.

Retail Is Becoming an Important Growth Channel

Air Up initially focused heavily on direct-to-consumer sales.

As the business has matured, retail has become an increasingly important part of its expansion strategy.

The brand now operates across 14 markets, with products available online and through selected retail partners.

In the UK, customers can purchase Air Up through Sainsbury's. In Germany, the brand is available through Kaufland. Distribution continues expanding into additional markets.

The move reflects a broader trend among digitally native brands.

Direct-to-consumer channels remain valuable for education and customer engagement, but physical retail provides consumers with the opportunity to discover products they may never have searched for online.

For a product built around sensory experience, that physical interaction becomes especially valuable.

Fear Is Often the Biggest Barrier to Innovation

When asked what advice she would give aspiring founders, Lena's answer had little to do with product development or fundraising.

It focused on fear.

She believes many entrepreneurs never begin because they are consumed by the possibility of failure.

Her advice is to make that fear concrete.

"Think about what would happen if you fail," she said. "And once you make that fear very concrete, then it's easier to actually work with it."

Her second lesson is equally practical.

Trust your instincts, but test them quickly.

Rather than debating ideas endlessly, build small experiments that either validate or challenge your assumptions.

"Before losing yourself in discussions, always just do small tests and prove if your gut feeling is right," she said. "That is a lot more constructive than locking yourself into a room and discussing what ifs for hours."

For founders building entirely new product categories, those experiments often provide more valuable answers than opinions ever can.

Innovation Often Starts With Asking Better Questions

Air Up's story is not simply about a reusable bottle or flavoured water.

It is about challenging assumptions that most consumers never think to question.

By combining neuroscience, behavioural design and product innovation, the company created a new category from an everyday habit that had remained largely unchanged for decades.

Its success also offers a broader lesson for retailers and consumer brands.

The next breakthrough product may not come from adding more features or more ingredients.

It may come from understanding human behaviour more deeply and designing products that work with it rather than against it.

Sometimes the biggest innovations begin with a university project and a question that nobody else thought to ask.