L’Oréal partners two Singaporean universities to cultivate skills in undergraduates

L'Oréal Brandstorm

The French company is partnering with these two universities to cultivate innovation and entrepreneurship skills in undergraduates through its L'Oréal Brandstorm programme. It is open to all youth under 30, where successful pitches by student teams are sent to a London final for a chance to earn a three-month entrepreneurship at L’Oréal global headquarters in Paris.

Brandstorm is one of the key initiatives under L'Oréal For Youth, which focuses on creating a positive impact on the ecosystem and contributing to youth employment.

Combining existing curriculum with a life-changing competition

Starting in 2025 for three years, final year undergraduates at SMU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB) taking ‘The Design of Business’, a 13-week mandatory capstone course, will be made to work on a L'Oréal Brandstorm challenge. The gauntlet would consolidate the student's finance, marketing, innovation, and entrepreneurship knowledge and skills into a single course, with mentoring by L’Oréal senior business leaders.

Course participants are expected to develop diverse skills by ideating new values, pitching innovative projects, working in teams and being coached by L'Oréal's researchers and scientists. Both universities will also collaborate with L'Oréal on career development initiatives.

This year, Brandstorm teams are challenged to imagine and present on the theme of “Reinvent The Future of Professional Beauty Through Tech.” The national winner from all participating countries, including Singapore, will travel to London to participate in the International Finals.

Over 1,800 students from Singapore educational institutions are participating in Brandstorm in 2024, with the national finals set for 29 April 2024.

For SUSS, the school would encourage students to participate in the same competition, partly to enhance their learning experience.

Beautytech to agritech and vice versa

Currently, L’Oréal is also partnered with NUS's Environmental Research Institute, jointly researching soil and plant microbes within the field of regenerative agriculture. They aim to improve soil health and increase plant yield (both crucial to the ingredients in L’Oréal's products) without overly relying on chemical fertilisers. The research also falls in line with Singapore's food security goals (95% bio-sourced by 2030) and L’Oréal's ongoing sustainability goals.

Published by Hard Ware Zone