Three startups from Singapore and India have emerged as winners of the L'Oréal Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program for the South Asia Pacific, Middle East & North Africa (SAPMENA) region, the biggest Beauty Tech open innovation competition of this geographical scale.

The three teams – Creatively Squared (Singapore), Live2.ai (India), and NeuralGarage (India) – have won the opportunity to work with L'Oréal in a commercial pilot with one of the Group's 37 international brands, tap into potential exposure in 35 markets across the SAPMENA region, and embark on a year-long mentorship program with senior executives from L'Oréal and the program partners.  

Vismay Sharma, President of L'Oréal SAPMENA Zone, said, "We believe the South Asia Pacific, Middle East & North Africa region has the potential to become a hotbed for Beauty Tech Innovation that will shape the future of beauty.  This region has a very dynamic startup ecosystem and some of the most tech-savvy consumers in the world, which presents tremendous opportunities for game-changing innovations that elevate the consumer beauty experience. In this inaugural edition of the Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program, we've already seen some incredibly promising ideas and look forward to partnering with our three winning tech startups to nurture their innovation for the beauty world. By collaborating with strong partners, we aim to accelerate the pace and significance of our beauty tech innovations for the consumers of SAPMENA."  

The three winning startups of the 2024 L'Oréal SAPMENA Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program are:

• Creatively Squared (Singapore): Creatively Squared is a visual content production platform that enables brands to efficiently produce original digital photos and videos that are on-brand, high quality and effective.
• Live2.ai (India): Live2.ai is a SaaS platform offering interactive video solutions, focusing on shoppable video technology for Connected TV (CTV) and brands' websites and apps. It enables businesses to create engaging videos where viewers can make purchases directly within the video content.
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• NeuralGarage (India): NeuralGarage uses Generative AI to solve the problem of awkward dubbing in entertainment, with technology that syncs actors' lip movements with dubbed audio to create a natural viewing experience that preserves the cinematic feel of the original content.

Launched in May 2024, the inaugural L'Oréal SAPMENA Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program attracted hundreds of startups from across the SAPMENA region, including teams from Singapore. These innovators participated in a highly competitive five-month competition, culminating in the Grand Finale on 23 October in Singapore.

Offering innovative solutions to key challenges with the beauty industry, these startups addressed one or more of five challenge themes: Consumer Experience, Content, Media, New Commerce, and Tech for Good. Through their participation, startups had the opportunity to connect with commercial and digital leaders, including strategic partners and mentors who offered insights to test new ideas and potential to scale. The judging panel comprised of senior executives from L'Oréal, Accenture, Google, Meta and Veros Ventures.

Ng Wee Wei, Senior Managing Director and Southeast Asia Market Unit Lead of Accenture, said, "We're incredibly proud and excited about our partnership with L'Oréal and the wider ecosystem to drive innovation, elevate consumer experiences, and redefine the standards of the beauty industry. Witnessing participants push the boundaries with bold, creative solutions that seamlessly merge human ingenuity with cutting-edge technology was truly inspiring, setting the stage for the future of beauty tech. Congratulations to L'Oréal, all the participants, and the winners for their exceptional efforts and contributions."

L'Oréal is dedicated to fostering a culture of innovation. Fast Company recently named L'Oréal in its Top 50 2024 Best Workplaces for Innovators list and winner of the Beauty and Fashion category, in recognition of its commitment to encourage and develop innovation at all levels.

About the Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program in SAPMENA

The Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program is a regional open innovation competition that seeks to discover, support and nurture promising startups from across the South Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa region. These startups will be given the opportunity to further innovate their solutions in Beauty Tech for one of five challenge themes: Consumer Experience, Content, Media, New Commerce and Tech for Good.

The three regional semi-finals for the GCC, India and Southeast Asia culminate in an in-person SAPMENA Grand Finale. Judges comprise senior executives from L'Oréal and the program partners including Accenture, Google and Meta.

The top three SAPMENA Grand Finale winners win a L'Oréal-funded commercial pilot opportunity and a year-long mentorship program with senior executives from L'Oréal and the program partners. Startups who prove successful pilots in SAPMENA could have the opportunity to work with L'Oréal globally. With L'Oréal SAPMENA as a launchpad, startups could tap into an extensive network of partners and market insights.

Home to 40% of the world's population, the SAPMENA region covers 35 markets including many of the world's fastest growing, most populous and young markets. Its consumers are young digital natives, having an average age of 28 years (compared to the global average of 33 years) and with more than 60% purchasing online every week. Innovative e-commerce and social commerce business models and technologies are needed to reach and engage these consumers, who are leading the beauty acceleration with diverse beauty ideals and a dynamic digital culture of on-demand, always-connected and hyper social. Across Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East, the combined startup ecosystem includes over 40,000 startups, with more than 180 unicorns (startups valued US$1 billion+) and a deal flow that reached US$20 billion last year.