Startups
General Sense
General Sense, formerly Canaery, is a neurotechnology company developing a chemical-sensing platform by combining biological olfaction with neural interfaces and machine learning. Its Nose-Computer Interface reads neural signals at animals' olfactory bulbs and translates scent-related activity into digital data for identification and analysis. The current platform focuses on canine detection for security and defense, with potential applications in environmental monitoring, agriculture and medical diagnostics. Health-monitoring and diagnostic applications remain development ambitions rather than approved clinical services. CEO Westley Dang leads the company with Founder and COO Gabriel Lavella, Co-Founder and CTO Peter Ledochowitsch, and Chief Scientific Adviser Dmitry Rinberg. The company announced its change from Canaery to General Sense in January 2026. Its June 2022 seed financing raised more than $4 million, led by Breakout Ventures with participation from Dolby Family Ventures, KdT Ventures and SOSV; the exact final amount is undisclosed. DeepWork Capital also lists the company in its portfolio with a July 2023 announcement, without specifying a round or check amount. Canaery received NSF Convergence Accelerator Phase 1 R&D contract 49100424C0015 for narcotics and weapons detection: federal records show $649,984 obligated, consistent with an approximately $650,000 announcement. NSF identifies the award date as January 15, 2024, while the federal contract was signed January 23. The company's 2026 multimillion-dollar letters of intent with detection-canine operators are prospective commercial partnerships, separate from equity financing or cash receipts.
Team
 Dmitry RinbergChief Scientific Adviser |
 Gabriel LavellaFounder and Chief Operating Officer |
 Peter LedochowitschCo-Founder and Chief Technology Officer |
 Westley DangChief Executive Officer |