As artificial intelligence, data, and immersive digital tools rapidly transform the beauty industry, L’Oréal, the world’s largest beauty company by sales, is doubling down on partnerships with startups to maintain its innovation edge. From virtual try-on tools to hyper-personalised product recommendations, emerging technologies are redefining how consumers discover, experience, and purchase beauty products and L’Oréal is positioning itself at the centre of this shift.
At the forefront of this strategy is Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, L’Oréal’s Chief Marketing and Digital Officer for South Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and North Africa (SAPMENA). He believes that while large corporations excel at scale and execution, startups bring speed, experimentation, and fresh thinking that traditional research and development models often struggle to match.
Startups as a Strategic Innovation Engine
For the past two years, L’Oréal has run its Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program in the SAPMENA region, an initiative designed to identify and support high-potential startups working across beauty technology. The programme offers selected startups an opportunity to run real commercial pilots, backed by funding, mentorship from senior L’Oréal leaders, and access to global partners such as Google, Meta, and Accenture.
The most successful startups gain not only pilot opportunities but also a pathway into L’Oréal’s global ecosystem, with SAPMENA acting as a testing ground before potential global scaling.
Bradshaw-Zanger explains that beauty tech spans far beyond marketing tools. It includes how digital and data technologies are embedded throughout the business from scientific research in laboratories to manufacturing, supply chains, and consumer engagement. While earlier editions of the programme focused on marketing and commerce, the latest cohort has expanded into research and operational innovation.
Partnership Before Acquisition
While acquisitions remain an option, L’Oréal does not approach every startup partnership with a takeover mindset. A notable example is ModiFace, the AR and VR company L’Oréal acquired in 2018 after initially partnering with it. Today, ModiFace technology powers virtual try-on experiences across multiple L’Oréal brands worldwide.
However, many collaborations are designed simply to deploy technology faster or more effectively rather than absorb it into the company. L’Oréal operates venture funds and innovation scouting programmes that support startups at various stages, from local pilots to global deployment.
Driving Measurable Business Impact
Although specific sales figures are rarely disclosed, Bradshaw-Zanger notes that the ultimate goal of these partnerships is commercial impact. AI-driven content creation, influencer discovery platforms, TV-to-e-commerce integrations, and automated localisation tools are already improving marketing efficiency and conversion rates.
Marketing innovation, he adds, now operates on two levels: using AI to do everyday tasks better at scale, and creating new, engaging experiences that keep brands culturally relevant. Startups play a critical role in both.
AI Across the Beauty Value Chain
AI’s influence at L’Oréal extends well beyond consumer-facing applications. The company has been recognised as one of Europe’s most innovative AI-driven organisations, using artificial intelligence to accelerate product development, analyse molecular databases in partnership with IBM, and automate content creation for e-commerce.
Internally, L’Oréal has developed its own AI platforms to generate personalised marketing briefs, analyse consumer data, and improve sustainability outcomes. Bradshaw-Zanger describes the approach as “human plus machine” combining automation with expert oversight to improve speed, quality, and decision-making.
Ethics, Trust, and Human Oversight
Despite its aggressive adoption of AI, L’Oréal maintains strict ethical guardrails. Fully automated AI systems are avoided, particularly in customer interactions, where human agents remain available. The company has also committed to not using AI-generated human images such as synthetic skin or hair to avoid misleading consumers.
Transparency around AI usage is central to this philosophy, supported by an internal AI ethics board that reviews new applications. In what Bradshaw-Zanger calls a “post-truth” era, trust, consistency, and brand integrity are becoming even more critical.
Startups Shaping the Future of Beauty
Among the standout startups in the current Big Bang programme are Halo AI from Dubai, which uses AI to identify and manage beauty influencers; Without, an Indian startup transforming unrecyclable waste into reusable materials; and Sravathi AI, which applies AI to lab-level chemistry for product development. Others include Australia’s Heat Seeker, focused on synthetic consumer data, and Singapore’s Wubble, which uses AI to help musicians create bespoke brand soundtracks.
These startups reflect L’Oréal’s broad innovation agenda, spanning sustainability, consumer insights, content creation, and scientific research.
Building an Ecosystem, Not Competitors
Bradshaw-Zanger dismisses concerns that working closely with startups could create future competitors. Instead, he sees ecosystem building as a responsibility that comes with being an industry leader. By helping startups scale responsibly, L’Oréal aims to grow the beauty category as a whole.
The company’s approach prioritises action over endless pitching, committing to pilots and providing hands-on mentorship. This, he argues, helps close the gap that causes many startups to fail at the scaling stage.
Looking Ahead
L’Oréal sees the future of beauty tech evolving across three main areas: AI-driven product creation, deeper personalisation in consumer interactions, and enterprise-wide efficiency gains across factories, labs, and offices.
Through initiatives like the Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program, L’Oréal is betting that sustained partnerships with startups not one-off experiments will be the key to maintaining leadership in an increasingly technology-driven beauty industry.