L’Oreal invests in venture capital fund Cathay Innovation to support beauty tech startups in China

L’Oréal, a French personal care company, is investing venture capital firm Cathay Innovation to strengthen the French group’s ties with beauty tech start-ups, particularly in China. In an announcement yesterday, L’Oréal said the strategic investment in Cathay Innovation will be used to strengthen its connection with the ecosystem of beauty tech startups especially in China, second market group and pioneer of digital innovation.

As part of the investment, L’Oréal will support innovative Chinese start-ups in the beauty tech phase of growth.Start-ups will benefit from L’Oréal’s expertise and brands to test their innovations and accelerate their development.

Founded in 2015 by Denis Barrier and Mingpo Cai, Cathay Innovation is a European early growth venture capital firm that partners with entrepreneurs by bridging USA, Europe and China. Cathay Innovation’s mission is to support entrepreneurs engaged in the sustainable transformation of today’s world by technology.

Commenting on the investment, Fabrice Megarbane, Chief Executive Officer of L’Oreal China , said: “We are delighted with thisstrategic partnership with Cathay Innovation that will allow us to connect to the ecosystemdynamics of disruptive startups of beauty tech in China, country engine of advanced technologyand innovation. Our goal is to help these young entrepreneurs by giving themL’Oréal’s expertise and experience, in order to jointly co-create the new products and servicesof tomorrow.”

” We are verypleased to welcome L’Oréal as an investor in our ecosystem, and believe that weLet’s develop together a partnership of exceptional quality. China is a breeding groundinnovation in the new uses of disruptive technologies, and in particular in the world ofthe beauty. We will work to identify emerging emerging trends and collaborate withmost promising start-ups. With L’Oreal teams and visionary Chinese entrepreneurs,we will jointly develop new innovations for consumers in China and in thewhole world,” Mingpo Cai, Founder and Chairman of the Cathay Capital Fund, said.