With an eye on investing in future technologies, L’Oreal has announced it will be supporting the tech competition that ‘empowers and connects the most promising scientific and technological startups’.
The specific focus of the Hello Tomorrow Challenge is those startup companies looking to solve major industrial challenges facing the world today.
“New technologies are transforming science. Some of them will help solve the big challenges the world is facing today. It is essential for companies and deep-tech startups to work together to accelerate the transfer of these game-changing technologies into real world solutions,” said Jacques Leclaire, Scientific Director of L’Oréal.
Increasing ‘open innovation strategy’
The move serves to boost L’Oreal’s activities in the area of open innovation, encouraging the broader progress of the beauty industry and its capabilities when it comes to tech and digital.
This partnership with Hello Tomorrow adds to L’Oréal’s open innovation strategy, the company says, which also includes L’Oréal’s Research and Innovation Technology Incubator in San Francisco.
This wider strategy also involves existing partnerships between L’Oreal and deep-tech startups, such as:
- Ananda, a Canadian startup, for improving new 3D models of biological tissues
- Poietis, a French startup based in Bordeaux, for the 3D printing of hair follicles
- Nanoentek, a Korean startup, for the development of biochemical skin diagnostic systems.
In two other major areas of its investment in this field, L’Oréal also partners with the world’s largest startup campus Station F in Paris, London based digital accelerator and incubator Founders Factory and Partech Ventures, an international venture capitalist firm focused on tech.
How does the Hello Tomorrow Challenge work?
Over 3000 global deep-tech startups are set to be involved in the Hello Tomorrow Challenge, with the winners set to be announced at its Global Summit later this week.
There are 10 categories in the Challenge, and L’Oreal’s involvement will see it supporting the Wellbeing category:
- Data & AI,
- Energy Transition,
- Environment,
- Food & Agriculture,
- Wellbeing,
- Healthcare,
- Industry 4.0,
- New Materials,
- Mobility,
- Aerospace.
Lubomira Rochet, L’Oréal Chief Digital Officer will present the award of 15,000 euros to the wellbeing category winner at the upcoming Summit in Paris.