Indian innovators Without and Nexus join a global group of 13 change-makers advancing breakthrough solutions in circularity, climate, and sustainable industrial processes

Bengaluru: L’Oréal, the world’s leading beauty company, has announced the second cohort of 13 pioneering companies from eight countries selected to join L’AcceleratOR, the group’s flagship sustainable innovation programme, including two innovative companies from India.

Backed by a €100 million fund, the global L’AcceleratOR programme identifies, pilots, and scales high-impact technologies designed to address urgent challenges across climate, nature, and circularity. The programme brings together innovative startups and emerging technologies with L’Oréal’s global resources to accelerate the development of practical and scalable sustainable solutions.

Two Indian Startups Join L’AcceleratOR’s Second Cohort

Representing India in the new L’AcceleratOR cohort are:

Without: A climate-tech pioneer advancing circular technology to recycle hard-to-recycle flexible packaging and transform it into durable materials. Without was previously recognised as a winner in the L’Oréal SAPMENA Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program.

Nexus [Felis Leo Widgets]: An innovator developing circular technology to produce energy-storage batteries using agricultural waste, creating a technology pathway that connects waste utilisation with sustainable energy-storage solutions.

The selection of these two Indian startups reflects the growing role of entrepreneurial innovation in addressing complex environmental and industrial challenges, including packaging waste, agricultural waste, circularity, climate technology, and sustainable industrial processes.

Global Acceleration for Sustainable Technologies

The 13 selected partners will enter an intensive acceleration phase led by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) innovation team, with a specific focus on pilot readiness.

As part of the programme, the participating companies will also have the opportunity to access L’Oréal’s global resources to launch 6-to-9-month pilot projects and potentially scale their solutions across the Group’s international operations.

The programme is designed to help promising sustainable technologies move from innovation and development toward real-world implementation, while providing selected companies with the opportunity to test and demonstrate the potential impact of their solutions at scale.

“We are working to unlock new frontiers in the beauty industry through pioneering solutions,” said Ezgi Barcenas, Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer at L’Oréal. “This second L’AcceleratOR cohort reflects our ambition to bring together entrepreneurial ingenuity, scientific progress and the global reach of L’Oréal to help scale breakthrough innovations.”

L’Oréal India Highlights India’s Startup Innovation

Jacques Lebel, Managing Director, L’Oréal India, said: “India’s startup ecosystem is now the third largest in the world, and what continues to impress me is how fearlessly Indian entrepreneurs tackle complex, structural challenges, from agricultural residue to flexible packaging. Sustainability must be practical, scalable, and grounded in real-world impact. Combining that local entrepreneurial ingenuity with L’Oréal’s scientific rigour and global footprint is our winning formula. We are proud to see Indian minds taking centre stage to shape more circular solutions, not just for this market, but for the world.”

The participation of Without and Nexus in the second cohort underscores the potential of Indian climate-tech startups and sustainable innovation companies to develop solutions addressing global environmental challenges.

Expanded Focus on Circularity, Climate and Water Technology

Building on the success of its first cohort, the second edition of the L’AcceleratOR programme features an expanded geographical footprint and a broader range of sustainability challenges.

The latest cohort expands the programme’s focus across areas including circularity, climate, sustainable industrial processes, and nature, while also introducing its first-ever water-technology selection.

Through L’AcceleratOR, L’Oréal continues to connect entrepreneurial ingenuity, scientific innovation, sustainability, and global scale to identify and advance breakthrough technologies capable of addressing some of the most pressing environmental challenges.