The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has announced the finalists for BEAUTY&YOU India 2026, in partnership with beauty retailer Nykaa and Government of India initiative, Startup India.
The programme, an initiative of India’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), seeks to discover and support the next generation of Indian beauty entrepreneurs.
Now in its fifth year, BEAUTY&YOU India underscores ELC’s commitment to discovering, nurturing and accelerating India’s next generation of beauty entrepreneurs.
Tickets are now available for the 25th anniversary of the Pure Beauty Awards, taking place on 15 October 2026 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, UK. Join the beauty industry for an evening of recognition and celebration as this year’s winners are revealed. Click here to secure your place.
Following a competitive application process, 14 finalists were selected across four award categories.
This includes Grow, for in-market beauty brands, Imagine, for early-stage beauty concepts, and a new Design category for creative talent reimagining beauty.
Plus, the Breakthrough category focuses on innovation, presented in partnership with ELC’s Fragrance Atelier in Paris, France, the company’s global innovation hub dedicated to fragrance expertise.
This specific award recognises India’s legacy of fragrance craftsmanship, connecting Indian innovators with ELC’s fragrance expertise and ecosystem, according to ELC.
“Together, the finalists reflect many of the trends redefining beauty and the breadth of innovation emerging becoming available to India’s diverse beauty consumers,” an ELC company statement read.
“From high-performance skin and hair care tailored to Indian consumers and climates to new technologies transforming how fragrance and active ingredients are created, formulated, and delivered.”
The 2026 BEAUTY&YOU India finalists are:
Grow: Best in-market beauty brands
- 3TENX – Ankith Aroraa, Founder & CEO, and Megha Arora, Co-Founder
- Laani – Nirja Bhatt, founder & CEO
- The Curl Co. – Rutvika Charegaonkar and Isha Mahabal, co-founders
Imagine: Best early-stage beauty concepts
- Hyeglo Beauty – Kanupriya Ahluwalia, founder
- Neothera – Radhika Agarwal, founder & CEO
- Boldpurity – Khatija Shabana, CEO, and Syed Mohammad Fouzan, Director
- Evove – Karan Galhotra and Aditi Mittal, co-founders
Breakthrough: Best innovation in fragrance
- Ananthara Biotech – Ananth Krishna Narayanan, founder and Managing Director, and K.K. Narayanan, Director
- Goyam Green Tech – Ajaykumar Mehta, Shriya Rambhia and Dheer Rambhia, Directors
- BABOSKI – Hetali Kamdar, founder
- La SerentiQa Innovations – Abhay Panchal and Hardik Patel, co-founders
DESIGN: Creative talent with the potential to shape a meaningful collaboration with an ELC brand
- De Icebreaker Creative Studio – Pankti Sheth, Founder & Creative Director
- Guerrilla Art & Design Pvt. Ltd. – Rutva Trivedi, Design Director and Co-founder and Arjun Bhal, Managing Director
- Rhevan – Vanshika Pherwani and Rhea Pherwani, co-founders
What is next for the 2026 finalists of BEAUTY&YOU?
Finalists across all award categories will present their businesses and ideas to a distinguished panel of judges in Mumbai at a later date before winners are announced the following evening at the BEAUTY&YOU India 2026 Awards.
This year’s jury panel is composed of experts across ELC, including Akhil Shrivastava, Executive VP and CFO, Aude Gandon, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, and René Lammers, Executive VP & Chief Research & Innovation Officer, among others.
They will be joined by industry leaders including: Anchit Nayar, Executive Director & CEO, Nykaa Beauty; Ankita Pandey, Director, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; and Katrina Kaif, actor and founder of Kay Beauty.
Since launching BEAUTY&YOU India in 2022, ELC has helped founders build and scale their businesses through funding, mentorship, access to global industry expertise and strategic opportunities.
The ELC company statement said: “The programme’s continued collaboration with Startup India, DPIIT, a flagship initiative of the Government of India, reflects a shared focus on advancing Indian entrepreneurship and creating greater opportunities for women founders.”
Related content:
- India is the new beauty powerhouse that can no longer be ignored
- Charlotte Tilbury opens first flagship boutique in India in partnership with Nykaa
- Nykaa confirms talks on potential acquisition of Indian skin care brand 82°E
- L'Oréal India rumoured to take a majority stake in Innovist
- Estée Lauder Companies acquires Forest Essentials as part of ‘long-term commitment to India’
- India’s RAS Luxury Skincare boosted by minority investment from Dabur
- L’Oréal invests €350m in global Beauty Tech Hub in India to fuel artificial intelligence innovations
- Unilever Ventures invests in India’s Secret Alchemist and SkinInspired brands
