L'Oréal Groupe has named its second cohort of companies pioneering sustainable innovation in the beauty industry via its L'AcceleratOR programme.
The 13 companies come from eight countries and were selected to join the French beauty giant’s sustainable innovation programme.
L’Oréal’s L'AcceleratOR programme is a five-year scheme endowed with €100m, running in partnership with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).
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Building on the success of its first cohort of start-ups and SMEs, announced in January this year, the L’AcceleratOR programme’s second edition is marked by its expanded geographical footprint.
It has also extended the range of sustainability challenges addressed, including the first water-technology selection.
“We are working to unlock new frontiers in the beauty industry through pioneering solutions,” said Ezgi Barcenas, Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer at L’Oréal.
“This second L’AcceleratOR cohort reflects our ambition to bring together entrepreneurial ingenuity, scientific progress and the global reach of L’Oréal to help scale breakthrough innovations.”
James Cole, Chief Innovation Officer at CISL, added: “We are excited to welcome the second cohort in the L’AcceleratOR program after many months of careful selection to find commercially relevant solutions in target geographies internationally.
“The continued investment and support to sustainability innovation shown by L’Oreal demonstrates the power of foresighted brands to lead the market towards better solutions for all.”
The 13 start-up additions chosen by L’Oréal are:
- Arda Biomaterials (UK): Creating a plant-based leather alternative for premium materials.
- Bormioli Luigi (Italy): Reinventing ultra-light and resistant glass packaging.
- Auressens (France): Creating metal-free, recyclable reflective pigments for packaging.
- Newlight Technologies, Inc. (USA): Converting methane into packaging.
- Bioweg (Germany): Harnessing the power of precision fermentation for new raw materials.
- Envision Energy (China): Developing green ammonia for hair colourants from renewable energy.
- Without (India): Recycling technology for hard-to-recycle flexible packaging
- HCpect (China): Treating plastic waste through a novel chemical recycling technology.
- MacroCycle (USA): Recycling Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) through a low-carbon solution.
- Nexus (India): Producing batteries using agricultural waste through a circular technology.
- Upheat Solutions Oy (Finland): Bringing energy efficiency with novel industrial heat pumps.
- Laminar (USA): Enhancing industrial water management through intelligent sensor technology to reduce overall usage.
- Waterplan (USA): Addressing water and biodiversity risks to drive local action through an AI-native platform.
L'Oréal Groupe unveiled its first cohort of 13 start-ups for 2026 in January, including businesses Kelpi (UK), Bioworks (Japan), and Blue Ocean Closures (Sweden).
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