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Beauty Meets Tech: How Australia, India, and UAE Startups Captured L’Oréal’s Biggest Innovation Prize

Swarnadwip Nath Published Nov 10, 2025, 10:32 AM Updated Sep 17, 2026, 12:40 PM

Four startups—Halo AI (UAE), Heatseeker (Australia), Sravathi AI (India), and Without (India)—have won L’Oréal’s 2025 SAPMENA Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program, the largest beauty tech competition across South Asia Pacific, Middle East, and North Africa. The winners gain opportunities for commercial pilots, exposure across 35 markets, and year-long mentorships.

L’Oréal Groupe crowned four startups from Australia, India, and the UAE as winners of the 2025 SAPMENA Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program, marking the biggest open innovation contest of its kind in the region. The program scouted visionary early-stage ventures addressing critical beauty industry challenges such as consumer experience, new commerce, tech for good, content/media, and science for beauty.

The winners are Halo AI (UAE), a platform aiding brands to manage influencer collaborations via AI-powered analysis; Heatseeker (Australia), which enables marketers to run rapid online experiments with real customers using AI; and two Indian startups—Sravathi AI, an AI-driven pharmaceutical design platform focused on molecular modelling; and Without, a materials science company turning unrecyclable waste into recyclable products to promote circular economy.

These startups now collaborate with L’Oréal’s 37 global brands through commercial pilots and gain exposure to 35 SAPMENA markets. They also benefit from a year-long mentorship involving senior executives from L’Oréal and partner firms including Accenture, Google, and Meta. Wubble AI (Singapore) received a special mention.

The initiative underscores L’Oréal’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and fostering regional entrepreneurial ecosystems in the beauty tech space.

Key Highlights

Four startups from UAE, Australia, and India win L’Oréal’s 2025 SAPMENA Beauty Tech Innovation Program.
Winners gain commercial pilot opportunities with L’Oréal’s 37 international brands and regional exposure.
Year-long mentorship by senior executives from L’Oréal, Accenture, Google, and Meta.
Winning startups address AI-driven pharma design, marketing tech, sustainable materials, and influencer management.
Program highlights growing innovation in South Asia Pacific, Middle East, and North Africa.

Sources: PR Newswire, L’Oréal Official, The Hindu Business Line

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