L’Oréal invests in tech startup Gjosa to advance ongoing Water Saver partnership

The two companies had been working exclusively together since 2015 to optimise shampoo rinse technologies with the overarching goal of saving water. In 2018, they unveiled a sustainable hair care system​ that blended and distributed product simultaneously via a smart, low-flow shower head enabling up to 80% water savings. The tech was already available in select salons in New York and Paris, with a global rollout planned over the coming year.

The L’Oréal Water Saver tech was showcased earlier this year at the Consumer Technology Association (CES) 2021​ – held online this year due to COVID-19 – along with a compact, at-home version that linked to a mobile device to track water use and savings. This consumer product was primed for a later launch.

‘New augmented beauty experiences for our consumers'​

L’Oréal had now announced a minority investment in Gjosa via its corporate venture capital fund BOLD Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development, taking the partnership into a “new stage”,​ according to Amin Abdulla and Luc Amgwerd, co-founders of Gjosa.

“The strengthening of our partnership will enable us to create innovations that will have the best water-tech solutions for people in salons and at-home with the highest quality, and we are elated to work together to reach this goal,”​ they said.

Importantly, they said L’Oréal’s beauty R&D leadership, experience in tech and iconic brands would enhance Gjosa’s roadmap that aimed to get its water technologies to more consumers around the globe.

Barbara Lavernos, chief research, innovation and technology officer at L’Oréal, made clear the beauty major had intentions to take this technology further. “At L’Oréal we aim to offer the best sustainable beauty science and to be the champion of ‘beauty tech’. By combining Gjosa’s unique water-tech innovations with L’Oréal’s knowledge of beauty rituals, data, tech, and personalisation, we will invest together new augmented beauty experiences for our consumers while protecting the coveted and precious resource that is water.”​

'Next phase' of L'Oréal's beauty tech ambition​

Nicolas Hieronimus, deputy CEO of L’Oréal, said the L’Oréal Water Saver represented the “next phase”​ of the company’s beauty tech ambition – “one that delivers an exceptional personalised beauty experience while embodying our commitment to sustainability in every aspect of our business”.​

“…Every drop of water is precious, and our new technology makes every drop of water count,”​ Hieronimus said.