L’Oréal continues its bid for innovation: invests in Chinese VC fund

L’Oréal continues its bid for innovation. The French cosmetics giant has invested in Chinese venture capital fund Cathay Innovation, specialized in tech start-ups. The investment was made through Business Opportunities for L'Oréal Development (Bold) Ventures, launched in December 2018. Cathay invests in sectors like e-commerce, consumer-centric digital platforms, fin-tech, health, artificial intelligence and new mobility.

“It will allow us to connect with the dynamic ecosystem of new disruptive beauty technology companies in China, a driving force in technology advanced and innovation,” said Fabrice Megarbane, president of L'Oréal in China, in a statement.

L’Oréal sealed an alliance in 2018 with Parisian tech incubator Station F 

“We will work to identify new emerging trends and collaborate with the most promising startups; together with L’Oréal teams and visionary Chinese entrepreneurs, we will develop new innovations for consumers in China and the world at large.” stated Ming-Po Cai, founder and president of Cathay Capital.

Last year, L’Oréal sealed an alliance with the Parisian incubator Station F through and became its strategic partner for the development of digital startups specialized in cosmetics. L’Oreál closed 2018 with sales of 26.9 billion euros, 7.1% up from the previous year. The profit of the French group stood at 3.8 billion euros, 8.8% more than the previous year.