L’Oréal invests in beauty tech start-ups with new accelerator scheme
L’Oréal has launched an investment programme to support beauty start-ups, with the first intake including a nail art printer, a personalised skincare brand and an app to match beauty consumers to products.
The scheme, launched by L’Oréal and Founders Factory – which builds and scales early technology companies, will support five early stage start-ups and co-create two new businesses each year.
Lubomira Rochet, chief digital officer at L’Oréal, said: "We are excited to champion the next generation of beauty entrepreneurs through our partnership with Founders Factory and accelerate their development by bringing them our expertise of the beauty industry."
After receiving 180 applications from entrepreneurs in the UK, US, Germany, Lithuania and Slovenia, and holding several pitching sessions at L’Oréal’s headquarters, the five businesses chosen for the initial six-month accelerator programme are:
- InsitU
A personalised, natural skincare range developed by scientists which is available online.
- Preemadonna
The nailbot device and app enables users to design nail art on their mobile phone and print it directly onto their nails in a matter of seconds.
- Tailify
A London-based, Scandinavian-founded social influencer agency.
- Veleza
An app-based community of beauty lovers which helps users discover products that best match their needs.
- Cosmose
Using location technology, the company that allows retailers to target offline customers via online channels.
Henry Lane Fox, co-founder and CEO of Founders Factory, said: "We understand how incredibly hard it is to build a successful business and know that every founder feels the strain in terms of capital, time and resource.
“By coupling the expertise of our operating team with the knowledge and scale of L’Oréal, we provide an unrivalled platform for start-ups looking to make global impact."
