L’Oréal Groupe has backed Chinese biotech start-up Veminsyn to help identify new ingredients and speed up the process of getting them to market.
The French beauty giant has invested in the firm via its China fund, Shanghai Meicifang Investment, and its corporate venture capital arm Bold, WWD reported.
Nice Group, a manufacturer of personal care and household products in China, also participated in the 100m renminbi (US$13.8m) investment round.
Veminsyn was founded by doctoral students at Peking and Tsinghua University in Beijing – Yaran Zhao, Jiayue Chen, Yufan Li and Xiaomei Lin – in 2021.
The start-up won L’Oréal’s Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program in 2023.
The annual event aims to support innovation in beauty tech and help start-ups in South Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa (SAPMENA) scale.
“Veminsyn impressed us with their unique biotech capabilities, which we believe will be instrumental in developing new sustainable ingredients,” said Vincent Boinay, president of L’Oréal North Asia Zone and CEO of L’Oréal China, according to the publication.
“We’re confident that leveraging the dynamism of the Chinese startup ecosystem will enable us to achieve this with unprecedented speed and efficiency.”
According to WWD, Barbara Lavernos, deputy CEO of research, innovation and technology at L’Oréal Groupe, added: “This strategic investment merges Veminsyn’s advanced AI design platforms and comprehensive bio-capabilities with L’Oréal’s extensive scientific knowledge of skin, hair, and scalp biology.
“Our shared vision is to accelerate the identification and development of high-performing, unique bioactives, streamlining the process from design to large-scale production.”
It is not the first time L’Oréal has backed biotech innovations.
US biotech firm Debut launched its AI ingredient discovery platform this year after gaining backing from L’Oréal in 2023.
L'Oréal led a €35m funding round in French biotech ingredients company Abolis last year.
It has also backed Geno, a venture to make biotech-based alternatives to ingredients based on palm and fossil fuels, along with Unilever and Kao, and acquired a minority stake in French biotech firm and microalgae manufacturer Microphyt.
Meanwhile, L’Oréal unveiled Cell BioPrint, a device it claims will help demystify skin care for consumers, providing a personalised skin analysis “in just five minutes”, working with Korean start-up NanoEntek.
Cosmetics Business has contacted L'Oréal for a comment.