L’Oréal has launched a new initiative designed to support female-led start-ups across the beauty industry.
The Bold Female Founders campaign has been developed through the group's venture capital fund, with a dedicated initial sum of €25m (US$26.6m).
It will focus on investment opportunities for women entrepreneurs in brands, beauty tech, biotech and green science.
“Bold Female Founders aims at promoting the venture funding of women entrepreneurship, that remains at an unbelievably low level,” said Nicolas Hieronimus, Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal.
“By addressing the inequalities that passionate women founders face in their entrepreneurial journey, we bring our sense of purpose to life: ‘create the beauty that moves the world’.”
L’Oréal said the venture and entrepreneurship funding is aligned with the group’s strategic commitment to promote gender equity.
“A more inclusive venture capital industry means more opportunities for underrepresented female entrepreneurs,” said Gouzelle Ishmatova, Chief Strategy Officer for Bold Female Founders.
“As a matter of fact, start-ups led by women attract less funding, yet they consistently outperform. With Bold Female Founders, we want to be a game changer by investing in the creativity and talent of the next generation of female entrepreneurs.”
It comes after L’Oréal and educational agency UNESCO announced the recipients of this year’s L’Oréal-UNESCO UK and Ireland For Women in Science Rising Talent fellowships.
The programme, which is also supported by the Royal Society, recognises a fellow in five categories: engineering, life sciences, mathematics and computer science, physical sciences and sustainable development.
This year’s grant winners include:
- Dr Myriam Haltalli (University of Cambridge) - Life Sciences
- Dr Martina Cihova (Imperial College London) - Engineering
- Dr Bernadette Stolz (University of Oxford) - Mathematics and Computer Science
- Dr Rachel Montgomery (University of Glasgow) - Physical Sciences
- Dr Christina Faust (University of Glasgow) and Dr Jenny Zhang (University of Cambridge) - Sustainable Development