L’Oréal Names Second Cohort of Change Makers To L’Accelerator Program

Happi International Top 30 Company L’Oréal named its second cohort of 13 leading companies from eight countries selected to join the group’s flagship sustainable innovation program, L’AcceleratOR.

The program is endowed with €100 million to identify, pilot and scale sustainable solutions of the future to solve urgent challenges in climate, nature and circularity.

Building on the success of its first cohort of start-ups and SMEs, officials say the L’AcceleratOR program’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.

Meet the Change Makers

Next-Generation Packaging & Materials

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.

Innovative ingredients & Formulas

Bioweg (Germany): Harnessing the power of precision fermentation for new raw materials.

Envision Energy (China): Developing green ammonia for hair colorants from renewable energy.

Advanced industrial processes

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.

Data intelligence

Waterplan (USA): Addressing water and biodiversity risks to drive local action through an AI-native platform.

These 13 partners will enter an intensive acceleration phase led by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) innovation team, focusing on pilot readiness. They will also have the opportunity to gain access to L’Oréal’s global resources to launch six-to-nine-months pilot projects and potentially have their solutions scaled across the Group’s international operations.

“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.”

“We’re 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’Oréal demonstrates the power of foresighted brands to lead the market towards better solutions for all,” added James Cole, chief innovation officer at CISL.

Watch L’Oréal’s new docuseries, “Entering L’AcceleratOR:”