L’Oréal welcomes the second cohort of 13 change makers to its L’Accelerator programme for breakthrough sustainable solutions

Clichy, France – September 17, 2026 - L’Oréal, the world’s leading beauty company, today named its second cohort of 13 pioneering companies from eight countries selected to join the group’s flagship sustainable innovation programme, L’AcceleratOR. This programme endowed with €100M aims to identify, pilot and scale sustainable solutions of the future to solve the most urgent challenges we all face in climate, nature and circularity.

Building on the success of its first cohort of start-ups and SMEs, the L’AcceleratOR programme’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 13 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 6-to-9-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’Oreal demonstrates the power of foresighted brands to lead the market towards better solutions for all,” added James Cole, Chief Innovation Officer at CISL.

As we welcome this second cohort, we are also thrilled to unveil our new docuseries, Entering L’AcceleratOR, which chronicles the journey of three of our inaugural cohort of change makers. This series takes viewers behind the scenes to see how these startups and our internal teams have worked together to pilot breakthrough solutions for commercialization. You can watch the first episode and follow the full series on our L’Oréal YouTube Channel.

For more information to follow the progress of these innovators, and to be informed about the launch of our next call for application, visit: https://www.loreal.com/en/commitments-and-responsibilities/for-the-planet/accelerator/.

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About L’Oréal 

For over 115 years, L’Oréal, the world’s leading beauty player, has devoted itself to one thing only: fulfilling the beauty aspirations of consumers around the world. Our purpose, to create the beauty that moves the world, defines our approach to beauty as essential, inclusive, ethical, generous and committed to social and environmental sustainability. With our broad portfolio of 40 international brands and ambitious sustainability commitments in our L’Oréal for the Future programme, we offer each and every person around the world the best in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, sincerity and responsibility, while celebrating beauty in its infinite plurality.

 

With more than 95,000 committed employees, a balanced geographical footprint and sales across all distribution networks (ecommerce, mass market, department stores, pharmacies, perfumeries, hair salons, branded and travel retail), in 2025 the Group generated sales amounting to 44.05 billion euros. With 22 research centers across 7 regional hubs around the world and a dedicated Research and Innovation team of over 4,000 scientists and more than 8,000 Digital, Tech and Data talents, L’Oréal is focused on inventing the future of beauty and becoming a Beauty Tech powerhouse.

 

In 2025, L’Oréal has been named the most innovative company in Europe by Fortune magazine, out of 300 companies, in a ranking spanning 21 countries and 16 industries in Europe.

 

More information on https://www.loreal.com/en/mediaroom

 

About CISL

CISL is an impact-led institute within the University of Cambridge that activates leadership globally to transform economies for people, nature and climate. Through its global network and hubs in Cambridge, Cape Town and Brussels, CISL works with leaders and innovators across business, finance and government to accelerate action for a sustainable future. CISL has supported over 500 startups in the past 5 years through its accelerator programmes, community and workspace, and has been ranked as a top EU startup hub by the Financial Times for three years running. https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/innovation.

“This press release does not constitute an offer of sale or solicitation of an offer to purchase L'Oréal shares. If you wish to obtain more comprehensive information about L'Oréal, please refer to the public documents registered in France with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, also available in English on our website www.loreal-finance.com.

This press release may contain forecast information. While the Company believes that these statements are based on reasonable assumptions as of the date of publication of this press release, they are by nature subject to risks and uncertainties which may lead to a discrepancy between the actual figures and those indicated or suggested in these statements.”     

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