THE WHAT? L’Oréal has announced a minority investment in SHINEHIGH INNOVATION, a biotech start-up specializing in supramolecular chemistry, marking the beauty giant’s first open innovation investment in China through its venture arm Meicifang.
THE DETAILS This strategic move, backed by L’Oréal’s BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development) venture capital arm, stems from the company’s BIG BANG Beauty Tech Innovation Challenge, which has fostered innovation partnerships in China for four years. SHINEHIGH INNOVATION, founded in 2017 by Professor Jiaheng Zhang, has developed breakthrough self-assembling technology that enables novel combinations of active ingredients, improving efficacy, sustainability, and formulation stability in beauty products. The partnership aims to unlock advanced skin, hair, and scalp care innovations, leveraging SHINEHIGH’s cutting-edge biotech capabilities to address ingredient compatibility, delivery, and performance challenges.
THE WHY? As China cements its role as a global innovation hub, L’Oréal’s investment underscores its long-term commitment to co-creation and technological advancement in the cosmetics and personal care space. By tapping into SHINEHIGH’s supramolecular expertise, L’Oréal positions itself at the forefront of next-generation formulation science, addressing rising consumer demand for high-performance and sustainable beauty solutions. This partnership signals not only confidence in the Chinese innovation ecosystem but also a clear ambition to shape the future of global beauty.
Source: L’Oréal
