L'Oréal Showcases New Frontiers of Beauty Powered by North Asia Open Innovation at Viva Tech

SHANGHAI,June 19, 2025/PRNewswire/ --OnJune 12, L'Oréal showcased its fast-evolvingNorth Asiaopen innovationecosystem atViva Technology inParis, through a dedicated forum themed"New Frontiers of Beauty Powered by North Asia Open Innovation."The event brought together top startups fromChina,Japan, andSouth Korea— standout performers from the L'Oréal Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program (Big Bang)— alongside ecosystem partners from government, media, industrial parks and innovation hubs. This marks a key milestone as L'Oréal's regional collaboration model takes the global stage.

The forum explored regional innovation trends and L'Oréal's beauty tech strategy, highlighting how the Big Bang program is helping scale cross-border partnerships. With winning startups now co-developing next-generation solutions with L'Oréal, theNorth Asiaopen innovation model is quickly growing from a regional catalyst into a global innovation accelerator.

"L'Oréal is born from science, and to continue to push Beauty frontiers, we believe in the power of co-creation, collaboration and co-innovation with the external world,"saidBarbara Lavernos, DeputyCEO in charge of Research, Innovation and Technology at L'Oréal Groupe. "Big Bang is at the heart of our open innovation strategy in North Asia. It connects us with dynamic startups, fostering cross-industry collaboration and accelerating the development of disruptive solutions. The success of this model has inspired its expansion across other regions, amplifying our open innovation impact globally."

A key highlight of the forum was a roundtable discussion that explored real-world applications of open innovation, regional strengths, and emerging trends shaping the future of beauty tech. The session featured three top-performing startups from L'Oréal's Big Bang program:

• Veminsyn, a Chinese biotech startup, recently gained a strategic investment earlier this year. The co-founderYufan Lipointed out : "L'Oréal brings not just capital, but scientific depth and global insight, it helped us turn a technical breakthrough into something with global potential."
• TheSEA, a Generative AI company inJapan, also the winner of 2024 Big Bang"Phygital Consumers Experience"track."L'Oréal's deep understanding of consumer needs has been instrumental in shaping our developments. We've found the ideal market where our technology can truly thrive,"said co-founder and CEOYanjin Li.
• ASLEEP, aSouth Korea-based AI sleep-tech firm, directly benefiting from Big Bang North Asia ecosystem. The company was introduced to L'Oréal at 2023 Viva Tech through Big Bang Korea Partner Ministry of SMEs and Startup, then gained the co-creation opportunity with L'Oréal Korea."I've personally experienced and witnessed the impact of this open innovation ecosystem,"said Dongheon Lee, founder and CEO,"L'Oréal combines the robust resources of a beauty giant with the astonishing speed of a'Unicornus Rex'."

"What I find particularly unique about the ecosystem inNorth Asiais the strong connection between innovation creation and its design for scaling. This interconnectedness is well demonstrated within this ecosystem." saidGuive Balooch, Global Managing Director, Augmented Beauty& Open Innovation at L'Oréal Groupe. "By merging these innovations with our beauty expertise, we can create significant disruptions in response to consumer demands for enhanced performance, not just inAsiabut globally."

With initiatives like Big Bang serving as a conduit, the open innovation ecosystem inNorth Asialeverages the complementary strengths ofChina,Japan, andSouth Korea— from technology and industrial supply chains to market reach. By linking regional capabilities to global platforms such as Viva Tech, L'Oréal is transforming local innovation into a launchpad for global impact. During the event, L'Oréal ingeniously utilized advanced AI-generated virtual host technology fueled by the rapid growth ofChina'se-commerce, from Topview.ai—a sister company of the winner of 2023 Big Bang Tabcut. Successfully"exported"this technology from Chinese livestreaming room to a global stage.

"Our North Asia Open innovation ecosystem originated with the Big Bang program pilot back in 2020. Now it has grown into a robust open innovation ecosystem, continuously powering beauty innovation," saidLan Zhenzhen, Chief CA&E Officer for L'OréalNorth AsiaandChina."The open innovation ecosystem that derived from Big Bang is now a strong engine that powers the new frontiers of beauty tech. We welcome more partners to join us and co-create the beauty that moves the world."

About L'Oréal Groupe

For 115 years, L'Oréal, the world's leading beauty player, has devoted itself to one thing only: fulfilling the beauty aspirations of consumers around the world. Our purpose, to create the beauty that moves the world, defines our approach to beauty as essential, inclusive, ethical, generous and committed to social and environmental sustainability. With our broad portfolio of 37 international brands and ambitious sustainability commitments in our L'Oréal for the Future programme, we offer each and every person around the world the best in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, sincerity and responsibility, while celebrating beauty in its infinite plurality.

With more than 90,000 committed employees, a balanced geographical footprint and sales across all distribution networks (e-commerce, mass market, department stores, pharmacies, perfumeries, hair salons, branded and travel retail), in 2023 the Group generated sales amounting to41.18 billion euros. With 20 research centers across 11 countries around the world and a dedicated Research and Innovation team of over 4,000 scientists and 6,400 Digital talents, L'Oréal is focused on inventing the future of beauty and becoming a Beauty Tech powerhouse.

About L'Oréal North Asia Zone

L'Oréal North Asia Zone was established in 2021 as L'Oréal Groupe regrouped the geographical scope of its zones to give greater coherence to consumer behaviors and to create synergy within the region. The North Asia Zone comprises of five geographically and culturally connected markets of Mainland China, Hong Kong S.AR, Taiwan Region, Korea andJapan.

Situated in the most beauty intense region with more than one-third of the world's total beauty consumers, L'OréalNorth Asiashapes the future of beauty with its innovation centers inShanghai,TokyoandSeoul, while investing in beauty tech transformation as one of the three beauty tech hubs globally. Here, our mission is to strategize, create and activate a powerful ecosystem around theNorth Asiamarkets as a competitive edge to unleash sustainable growth for all and inspire the world.

About L'OréalChina

L'Oréal, the world's largest beauty company, entered Chinese mainland in 1997. L'OréalChinais headquartered inShanghaiand has five offices across the country. L'OréalChinacurrently has 32 brands and one R&I center inChina, as well as two factories in Suzhou and Yichang, owning more than 15,000 employees. After 28 years of high-quality, steady and sustainable growth,Chinahas become the second-largest market in the world, the headquarter of the North Asia"Beauty Triangle", and one of three Beauty Tech Hubs worldwide.

As a benchmark foreign enterprise inChina, L'Oréal has continuously increased its investments in innovation, society, people, and ecosystem. It also collaborates with partners to explore innovative models, set industry standards, and integrate resources, driving high-quality development ofChina'sbeauty industry. L'Oréal founded the Group's first venture capital firm of regional markets inChina,"Shanghai Meicifang Investment Co., Ltd". L'Oréal Group's first self-build smart fulfillment center has been officially opened in Suzhou. Meanwhile, as one of the best corporate citizens inChina, L'OréalChinahas always implemented and kept the"L'Oréal for the Future Sustainable Development Commitment 2030"in mind.Chinais L'Oréal's first market to reach 100% renewable energies for its sites. L'OréalChinaalso actively contributes to the development of Chinese society through diverse CSR programs that empower women, youth, and vulnerable communities.

About Venminsyn

Winner of L'Oréal BIG BANG 2023, invested by L'Oréal in 2025.

Co-founded by multiple PhDs from Peking University (State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research) and Tsinghua University (Key Laboratory of Industrial Biocatalysis), Veminsyn is a biotechnology company rooted in synthetic biology and driven by cutting-edge scientific innovation. It utilizes AI and biotechnology to discover natural active ingredients, creating innovative raw materials that offer both excellent performance and environmental sustainability.

About TheSEA: 

Winner of L'Oréal BIG BANG 2024, collaborating with L'OréalChinaon Ecommerce product page.

TheSEA is a generative AI startup based inTokyo, pioneering the world's first fully AI-driven visual generation technology. Their technology enhances creative production efficiency and enables commercial-scale visual mass production, while maintaining high-quality output through fine-grained AI control. From generating entire scenes to auto-completing finished visuals, its AI autopilot system is designed to meet the unique needs of the beauty industry.

About Asleep

Winner of L'Oréal BIG BANG 2024, collaborating with L'Oréal's brand LRP.

Asleep Co., Ltd. is a sleep AI company, transforming sleep tracking into a non-wearable solution with cutting-edge sound-based AI, achieving 94% of the performance of hospital-grade polysomnography tests. Asleep Track is the world's first sleep tracking SaaS, seamlessly integrating advanced sleep tracking features into clients'apps.

More information onhttps://www.loreal.com/en/mediaroom 

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SOURCE L'Oréal