L’Oreal Invests Sustainable-related Company for its 2030 Goals

On March 20, L'Oréal's corporate venture capital fund BOLD announced an investment in a sustainable ingredients research initiative to accelerate the search for sustainable ingredients.

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L'Oréal said the initiative is led by a biotech start-up, Genomatica Inc., also known as Geno. It is based in San Diego, a hotbed of biotechnology innovation. In June 2022, Unilever invested $120 million in this initiative and Kao joined it in October 2022.

L'Oréal and Geno will launch a technology platform to harness the power of biotechnology. The group will mix microbial and industrial processes to ferment plant sugars into materials and ingredients, developing plant-based ingredients as alternatives to traditional ingredients. The ingredients will apply to L'Oréal’s products.

Furthermore, this partnership comes on the heels of several strategic partnerships. L'Oréal has forged to strengthen its pioneering green science beauty ecosystem, including precision health heavyweight VERILY, the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) in Japan, the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) and the Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO).

On November 29, L'Oréal officially announced a strategic partnership with French biotech company Microphyt, which is part of L'Oréal's research and innovation strategy for green science and its investment in innovative biotech start-ups in France and around the world. It was in line with L'Oréal's 2030 sustainability plan (L'Oréal is committed to using 95% of its ingredients from bio sources).

"At L'Oréal, we believe that science has the power to create a better world, and we are committed to using our expertise to drive positive change in the That's why we have made Green Sciences the cornerstone of our research," said Barbara Lavernos, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Research, Innovation and Technology. Officer in charge of Research, Innovation and Technology, at L'Oréal.

"This move not only aligns with our objective of delivering responsible and innovative beauty solutions to consumers but also strengthens our innovation ecosystem in North America," said Sanford Browne, President of Research and Innovation for North America, at L'Oréal. “It's a clear signal of our willingness to collaborate with partners who share our commitment to sustainability and reducing our environmental impact to create beauty that moves the world."

Commenting on the investment of L'Oréal, Geno CEO Christophe Schilling said, "L'Oréal's commitment further accelerates Geno's goal to reduce global carbon emissions by over 100 million tons in the upcoming years by targeting massive scale material markets. " Schilling also said that Geno will help L'Oréal achieve its 2030 sustainability plan, which is in line with the aforementioned L'Oréal's partnership with Microphyt. As Lavernos says, "L'Oréal has created a unique ecosystem and has invested massively in biotech around the world."