09.25.23
L’Oréal has agreed to make a minority investment in Shinehigh Innovation, an innovation-led biotech company in China, to establish a long-term partnership for the co-development of novel and sustainable beauty solutions.
This is L’Oréal’s first open innovation investment in China through Shanghai Meicifang Investment Co., Ltd (Meicifang), with the support from BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development), L'Oréal Groupe’s strategic innovation venture capital fund company. It is also the first investment from L’Oréal’s BIG BANG Beauty Tech Innovation Challenge initiated four years ago in China.
The partnership will enable L'Oréal to unlock the full potential of raw materials, overcoming known limitations such as incompatibility, instability and delivery, to develop innovative skin, hair and scalp formulations with a wider range of benefits.
According to Lavernos, this partnership will enable L’Oréal to bring breakthrough new performances to the beauty market.
Fabrice Megarbane, President of L'Oréal North Asia Zone and CEO of L'Oréal China, said: “After 25 years’ development, China has become the Groupe’s inspiration cradle of future innovation. Under our firm belief in co-creation, we initiated BIG BANG 4 years ago, and founded L'Oréal China’s investment company Meicifang last year. I am so thrilled to see all our efforts have harvested fruits today: investing in Shinehigh Innovation, our 2022 BIG BANG winner. Now BIG BANG has been extended to the North Asia Zone, and we expect to invent the future of beauty with more partners for North Asia and the global beauty market.”
Jiaheng Zhang commented:“I am delighted to cooperate with L’Oréal Groupe, a global leader in the beauty industry. We have jointly conducted research on the supramolecular development of multiple active raw materials in the fields of skincare, makeup, hair care, and hair coloration. This is of great significance for the industrialization and landing of cutting-edge supramolecular technology. We look forward to exploring more possibilities in raw material research and development, application, and global market development together!”
This is L’Oréal’s first open innovation investment in China through Shanghai Meicifang Investment Co., Ltd (Meicifang), with the support from BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development), L'Oréal Groupe’s strategic innovation venture capital fund company. It is also the first investment from L’Oréal’s BIG BANG Beauty Tech Innovation Challenge initiated four years ago in China.
About Shinehigh Innovation
Shinehigh Innovation is a Chinese start-up created in 2017 by leading scientist Prof. Jiaheng Zhang that specializes in supramolecular chemistry. Its breakthrough smart self-assembling technology allows previously impossible ingredient combinations, resulting in end-products with greater efficacy and sustainability.The partnership will enable L'Oréal to unlock the full potential of raw materials, overcoming known limitations such as incompatibility, instability and delivery, to develop innovative skin, hair and scalp formulations with a wider range of benefits.
Bringing Breakthrough New Formulations to Market
Barbara Lavernos, Deputy CEO of L'Oréal Groupe in charge of Research, Innovation and Technology, said: “The fast paced and unique ecosystem of startups in China is an incredibly important enabler of our future strategy of innovation at L’Oréal. This is why we are extremely excited to pursue this new investment and partnership with one of these highly innovative Chinese Biotech Startups: Shinehigh.”According to Lavernos, this partnership will enable L’Oréal to bring breakthrough new performances to the beauty market.
Fabrice Megarbane, President of L'Oréal North Asia Zone and CEO of L'Oréal China, said: “After 25 years’ development, China has become the Groupe’s inspiration cradle of future innovation. Under our firm belief in co-creation, we initiated BIG BANG 4 years ago, and founded L'Oréal China’s investment company Meicifang last year. I am so thrilled to see all our efforts have harvested fruits today: investing in Shinehigh Innovation, our 2022 BIG BANG winner. Now BIG BANG has been extended to the North Asia Zone, and we expect to invent the future of beauty with more partners for North Asia and the global beauty market.”
Jiaheng Zhang commented:“I am delighted to cooperate with L’Oréal Groupe, a global leader in the beauty industry. We have jointly conducted research on the supramolecular development of multiple active raw materials in the fields of skincare, makeup, hair care, and hair coloration. This is of great significance for the industrialization and landing of cutting-edge supramolecular technology. We look forward to exploring more possibilities in raw material research and development, application, and global market development together!”
