L'Oreal USA holds 6th mentorship contest for female entrepreneurs

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
May 11, 2017

L'Oreal USA is hosting its sixth annual Women in Digital Next Generation Awards designed to help female entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses.

"L'Oreal is dedicated to creating opportunities for women to shape the direction of the beauty business," said Rachel Weiss, Vice President, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at L'Oreal USA.

Weiss explained, "We're proud that this program has created a strong pipeline of entrepreneurial talent and a powerful community of more than 2,000 female-operated companies, who now have a platform to network and learn new business acumen to drive their technology forward."

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L'Oreal's Women in Digital program is designed to enable female business owners to expand their networks and connect with venture capitalists. In turn, L'Oreal will gain exposure from partnering with a new technology in the beauty industry.

Three finalists will be selected to pitch their ideas at L'Oreal's Inspiration Day in September before an audience of 500 marketing executives from L'Oreal's brands. Along the way, finalists will be mentored by a variety of executives including Thrive CEO Arianna Huffington and GE Vice Chair Beth Comstock.

L'Oreal USA's brand portfolio includes a laundry list of popular brands, including Carol's Daughter, Essie, Kiehl's, Matrix, Maybelline New York, NYX Professional Makeup, Pureology, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Redken, SkinCeuticals and Urban Decay.

The grand prize winner of the contest will have the opportunity to partner with one of L'Oreal's brands to pilot their business idea.

Previous winners of L'Oreal USA's Next Generation Awards include Kathryn Minshew, Founder and CEO of The Muse, Bettina Hein, Founder and CEO of Pixability, and Rachel Tipograph, Founder and CEO of MikMak. The winners from the previous five years of the competition have collectively raised more than $350 million since winning the L'Oreal award.