L’Oréal has selected 13 companies from eight countries for the second cohort of L’AcceleratOR, its €100 million sustainable innovation programme designed to identify, pilot and scale solutions addressing climate, nature, and circularity challenges.
The beauty group’s initiative will give the selected businesses access to an intensive acceleration programme led by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) innovation team, helping prepare their technologies for commercial pilots and potential deployment across L’Oréal’s international operations.
The second cohort expands the programme’s geographical reach and introduces new areas of focus, including its first selection of water-technology innovators.
The 13 companies span four categories, covering next-generation packaging and materials, innovative ingredients and formulas, advanced industrial processes, and data intelligence.
In packaging and materials, UK-based Arda Biomaterials is developing a plant-based leather alternative for premium materials, while Italy’s Bormioli Luigi is working on ultra-light, resistant glass packaging. French company Auressens is developing metal-free, recyclable reflective pigments, and US-based Newlight Technologies is converting methane into packaging.
The ingredients and formulas category includes Germany’s Bioweg, which uses precision fermentation to develop new raw materials, and China’s Envision Energy, which is developing green ammonia for hair colourants using renewable energy.
Six companies have been selected for advanced industrial processes. India’s Without is developing recycling technology for hard-to-recycle flexible packaging, while China’s HCpect is applying a novel chemical recycling process to plastic waste. US-based MacroCycle is developing a low-carbon approach to recycling polyethylene terephthalate (more commonly known as PET).
India’s Nexus is producing batteries using agricultural waste, Finland’s Upheat Solutions is developing industrial heat pumps to improve energy efficiency, and US company Laminar is using intelligent sensors to improve industrial water management and reduce consumption.
Completing the cohort, Waterplan, also based in the US, is using an AI-native platform to address water and biodiversity risks and support locally targeted action.
The selected companies will have the opportunity to develop six-to-nine-month pilot projects using L’Oréal’s global resources, with successful solutions potentially scaled across the group.
Ezgi Barcenas, L’Oréal’s chief corporate responsibility officer, said the programme aimed to combine entrepreneurial innovation, scientific progress and the company’s international reach to accelerate “breakthrough” sustainability solutions.
James Cole, chief innovation officer at CISL, said L’Oréal’s continued investment demonstrated how established brands could help move markets towards more sustainable alternatives.
Alongside announcing the new cohort, L’Oréal has launched Entering L’AcceleratOR, a docu-series available on YouTube following three businesses from its inaugural group as they work with the company to pilot innovations and prepare them for commercialisation.
The programme is backed by €100 million and forms part of L’Oréal’s wider efforts to advance sustainability across its business and supply chains.
World Refill Day: L’Oreal launches its ‘most comprehensive sustainability campaign’
[image credit: Green Retail World]
