First Cohort Revealed for L’Oréal’s Sustainable Innovation Program

PARIS – L’Oréal has unveiled names of the first 13 companies to join its flagship sustainable innovation program, dubbed L’AcceleratOR.

It’s a program endowed with 100 million euros over five years and is run in partnership with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, or CISL. The initiative was launched in April 2025 to help L’Oréal identify, pilot and scale solutions to address ongoing challenges in climate, nature and circularity.

“To accelerate sustainable solutions to market, we are being even more intentional and inclusive in our pursuit of partnerships through L’AcceleratOR,” Ezgi Barcenas, chief corporate responsibility officer at L’Oréal, said in a statement.

“We are really energized to be co-designing the future of beauty with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and these 13 change-makers,” she continued.

The first generation of startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and established innovation companies to join L’AcceleratOR was drawn from almost 1,000 applicants from 101 countries. Their specialities range from packaging made of wood to waste-converted ingredients.

The next generation of packaging and materials category has Kelpi from the U.K., Bioworks from Japan, Blue Ocean Closures from Sweden, Pulpex from the U.K., Pulpac from Sweden and Raiku from Estonia.

In the nature-sourced ingredients grouping is Biosynthesis from France, P2 Science from the U.S. and Oberon Fuels from the U.S.

Circular solutions include Novobiom from Belgium, Replace from France and Gàs Verde from Brazil. Neutreeno from the U.K. falls into the data intelligence category.

These companies will start a support phase focused on pilot readiness led by CISL’s innovation team. They are also going to be able to access L’Oréal’s resources around the world to launch six-to-nine-month pilot projects and possibly have their solutions scaled across the group.

“By identifying the most promising scalable solutions benefiting people, nature and climate, and elevating them to the world stage, we are making a sustainable future not just a goal, but a reality,” said James Cole, chief innovation officer at CISL.