[Exclusive] Global No.1 L'Or?al "Any Promising Korean Startups Around?"

Ministry of SMEs Attends French Startup Festival
Signs MOU with L'Or?al to Serve as Collaboration Bridge
L'Or?al Actively Engages in Startup Partnerships and Investments

Global beauty leader L'Or?al is seeking Korean IT companies to collaborate with. L'Or?al plans to utilize digital devices equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the beauty sector. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will act as a bridge connecting L'Or?al and Korean startups.

Minister Lee Young of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will attend 'Viva Technology,' Europe's largest startup festival held this month in Paris, France. During this event, he is scheduled to meet with executives from the French cosmetics company L'Or?al Group to officially announce collaboration with Korean startups.

An official from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated, "L'Or?al has recently been focusing on the Asian startup market," adding, "They are looking for teams in Korea to collaborate in the digital device field." The official continued, "The ministry will serve as a bridge between the two parties," and "We plan to identify domestic startups possessing advanced technologies applicable to L'Or?al's new beauty industries."

This is not the first time L'Or?al has formed a special relationship with Korean startups. In 2018, it made headlines by acquiring the domestic native fashion and cosmetics company 'Stylenanda' for 600 billion KRW. L'Or?al also participated in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' 'Da-Star Solver' project in 2020. The Da-Star Solver project is a win-win cooperation initiative designed to connect startups with technologies needed for large companies' business expansion, aiming to solve mutual challenges and complement each other's capabilities.

At that time, L'Or?al participated in the project with a task to develop eco-friendly cosmetic packaging materials as part of its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management. Four domestic startups showcased technologies for manufacturing packaging materials using natural ingredients such as seaweed and rice, but it is reported that they did not achieve final commercialization results.

In January, L'Or?al Group's venture fund 'BOLD' invested in the domestic startup 'Prinker Korea.' Prinker Korea is the first company in the world to introduce a digital-based disposable tattoo printing device. L'Or?al and Prinker Korea unveiled the home-use eyebrow tattoo device 'L'Or?al Brow Magic,' which applies augmented reality (AR) technology, at CES 2023.

Meanwhile, with a history spanning 110 years, L'Or?al did not slow down its innovation last year by actively leveraging collaboration strategies with startups. It formed a partnership with the 3D avatar development company 'Ready Player Me' to introduce avatar-exclusive virtual beauty looks, and made investments in the U.S. metaverse service platform Digital Village and the French bio startup Microphyt.

Additionally, L'Or?al is known to have a research and innovation team composed of more than 4,000 scientists and 5,500 technology and digital experts across 11 countries worldwide. Its sales in the first quarter of this year recorded 10.38 billion euros, a 14.6% increase compared to the same period last year, surpassing market expectations.