L'Oréal Research & Innovation

Choosing a programme

• Big Bang suits beauty-tech startups that fit one of the current challenge themes. Its 2026 India round has closed.
• The Beauty Tech Atelier suits early-stage tech and digital startups ready to scale. It prefers to start from existing proofs of concept, but says startups can always make themselves known.
• The Sustainable Innovation Accelerator suits solutions in climate, nature and circularity. Its 2025 call has closed.
• BOLD and Nykaa invest in emerging Indian beauty and wellness brands with strong consumer traction. No application route is stated.

How applications work

• Big Bang applications are submitted online by the closing date. The microsite can still show an Apply button for the 2026 India round, so check the closing date before you act on it.
• Pick the route for the region where your company is incorporated. The India route is for companies incorporated in India.
• Big Bang startups keep ownership of the IP they develop during the programme, and there is no application or participation fee.
• The Beauty Tech Atelier gives no open or close dates on its page.

L'Oréal Research & Innovation is the research side of L'Oréal, the beauty group founded in 1909 by the chemist Eugène Schueller. Its research teams work through a network of research centres around the world, and the wider group runs several open-innovation programmes for startups. Those programmes are run by different parts of the group, so each one needs checking separately.

How the programmes work

Four programmes are covered here. The Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program is a regional competition for beauty-tech startups, run by L'Oréal SAPMENA, the group's regional team based in Singapore. The Beauty Tech Atelier is an accelerator for early-stage tech and digital startups, which L'Oréal calls its global programme. The Sustainable Innovation Accelerator is a group call for climate, nature and circularity solutions. BOLD, the group's corporate venture capital fund, makes minority investments in Indian beauty brands together with Nykaa.

Two of the four are closed. The Big Bang 2026 India round closed on 15 July 2026, and the Sustainable Innovation Accelerator call closed on 30 September 2025. The Beauty Tech Atelier takes startups each semester and gives no open or close dates. The BOLD announcement names no application route.

Who can apply

Big Bang asks applicants which region their company is incorporated in, and the India route is for companies incorporated in India. The Beauty Tech Atelier wants early-stage tech and digital startups that are ready to scale, ideally with experience of working with corporate partners. The Sustainable call invited start-ups, SMEs and established companies with innovative solutions for climate, nature and circularity. BOLD and Nykaa back emerging Indian beauty and wellness brands with strong consumer traction and distinctive propositions.

Big Bang in India

The 2024 India regional semi-final was held on 11 September 2024. Four Indian startups then qualified for the Grand Finale, held in Singapore in October 2024. The Big Bang regional finals are held online, and the Grand Finale is an in-person event in Singapore, planned for November 2026. Startups keep ownership of the IP they develop during the programme, and there is no application or participation fee.

The challenge themes changed between editions. The 2024 announcement named five themes: Consumer Experience, Content, Media, New Commerce and Tech for Good. The current microsite lists five different ones: Connected Brand Experience, Creators & Affiliates, AI Powered Commerce, Innovation for Good, and Science for Beauty.

The Sustainable Innovation Accelerator

The Sustainable Innovation Accelerator is a call from L'Oréal Groupe that aims to identify, pilot and scale sustainable solutions in climate, nature and circularity. Selected companies enter an intensive acceleration phase led by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) innovation team, focused on pilot readiness. They can then run pilots of six to nine months with L'Oréal's global resources, and the group says a solution could be scaled across its international operations. The call does not name a country.

Scale

According to its latest group release, the Research and Innovation team includes over 4,000 scientists. The group also reports more than 120 million uses of its beauty tech services across 66 countries and 31 brands. The Beauty Tech Atelier page shows a community of 98 startups.

Locations

L'Oréal India is headquartered in Mumbai. Its Research and Innovation facilities in India are in Mumbai and Bengaluru. The SAPMENA team is based in Singapore, where the Big Bang Grand Finale is held.

Who runs it

L'Oréal Groupe runs these programmes through several teams. SAPMENA runs Big Bang. The Beauty Tech Atelier is the group's global programme. BOLD, launched in 2018, is L'Oréal's corporate venture capital fund and runs the India investments with Nykaa. The Sustainable Innovation Accelerator is a Groupe call, with CISL as its acceleration partner.