L’Oréal has acquired AI and AR company ModiFace, in a bid to bolster its digital services.
For an undisclosed sum, the deal will allow the French cosmetics giant to accelerate its digital strategy across its 34 brands.
ModiFace specialises in virtual make-up, hair colour and skin diagnosis services. The Canadian-based company's clients include Estée Lauder, MAC and Sephora.
“With its world-class team, technologies and sustained track record in terms of beauty tech innovations, ModiFace will support the reinvention of the beauty experience around innovative services to help our customers discover, try and choose products and brands,” said Lubomira Rochet, Chief Digital Officer of L’Oréal.
“We at L’Oréal and ModiFace want to pioneer this new page of the beauty industry and serve our customers with innovative services and experiences.”
ModiFace employs nearly 70 engineers, researchers and scientists who have submitted more than 200 scientific publications and registered over 30 patents.
Parham Aarabi, Founder and CEO of ModiFace, added: “L’Oréal’s acquisition of ModiFace provides an incredible opportunity to innovate on beauty AR and AI at an unprecedented scale, the results of which will shape the beauty industry for the decades to come.”
L’Oréal has ramped up its efforts to extend its digital expertise in recent years.
Last year, L’Oréal partnered with French start-up campus Station F, which is home to more than 1,000 start-ups and 3,000 entrepreneurs. It also invested in the Founders Factory, a UK-based company that works across industries to accelerate growth of start-ups.
