Business of Beauty
Nykaa and L'Oréal's BOLD to Fund Indian Beauty Founders
Nykaa and L'Oréal's venture fund BOLD will take minority stakes in high-growth Indian beauty brands, with founders keeping full ownership and independent control.
Nykaa, India's largest beauty retailer, and L'Oréal's corporate venture fund BOLD will jointly invest in the next generation of high-growth Indian beauty and personal care brands, the two companies announced.
BOLD — the acronym stands for Business Opportunities for L'Oréal Development — and Nykaa will take minority shares in brands they judge to have strong consumer traction and distinct propositions. The investments are strictly financial. Founders keep total ownership and run their businesses independently.
Both partners position themselves as long-term backers rather than controlling investors. The deal gives portfolio founders access to L'Oréal's beauty expertise as well as mentorship and guidance, plus Nykaa's omnichannel retail network and its reading of the Indian consumer ecosystem.
"The intent is to help ambitious Indian beauty founders scale faster and build enduring brands for India and the world," the companies said in a joint statement.
The venture pairs two of the most established players in Indian beauty. L'Oréal has operated in the country for more than three decades; Nykaa has built the market's biggest beauty retail platform.
"India is one of the most exciting beauty markets in the world, and its energy comes both from an expanding base of demanding consumers with rapidly evolving needs and from its ecosystem of tremendous entrepreneurs," said Jacques Lebel, managing director of L'Oréal India. "Our commitment to India is stronger than ever, and this is the next major milestone in a journey of partnership and growth that we began over three decades ago."
Nykaa's leadership framed the fund as the logical extension of a commercial relationship that has already run for years.
"Nykaa and L'Oréal have been partners in India for over a decade, working together on our shared vision of making India into one of the world's largest and fastest-growing beauty markets," said Anchit Nayar, executive director and chief executive officer of Nykaa Beauty.
He pointed to the operational record both companies bring to the table. "The experience and lessons we have learned along the way have allowed us to understand what it takes to build a promising brand into an enduring one," Nayar continued. "Combining our strong consumer ecosystem, deep retail network and wide distribution, along with L'Oréal's global beauty expertise will be an incredibly valuable asset to the next generation of founders as they look to build consumer brands that India can be proud of."
L'Oréal launched BOLD in 2018. The fund has already built an Indian portfolio: its recent investments include Deconstruct, the actives-led skincare brand, and Arata, the personal care label.
The structure of the new vehicle matters for founders. Because stakes are minority-only and financial in nature, entrepreneurs retain full control while gaining two distribution and knowledge partners at once — one global, one domestic. For emerging Indian brands, that combination could shorten the path from local traction to international scale.
Source: WWD
Amara Osei
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Staff writer covering media and advertising at Eurasian Beauty Journal.
