Nykaa has teamed up with global beauty giant The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) to launch an incubation program Beauty&You India “to discover, spotlight, and propel the next generation of Indian beauty brands”.
The Indian beauty and fashion ecommerce platform Nykaa was founded by Falguni Nayar, a graduate of IIM Ahmedabad and a former investment banker, who turned entrepreneur in 2012, just a few months before turning 50 years old. Nykaa had a blockbuster listing on the bourses on November 10 last year.
The Beauty&You program’s stated aim is “to help founders, innovators, and creators grow their businesses holistically by identifying brand goals, achieving scale ambitions, and curating product portfolios that speak to a new generation of consumers in the Indian market”.
Indian companies that are in pre-launch and in-market premium beauty segments can participate. Winning participants will get access to ELC and Nykaa relationships and expertise across the beauty ecosystem in order to nurture emerging ideas that address unmet needs in the categories of skin care, makeup, hair care, and fragrance.
The program also provides financial support through a total prize pool up to Rs 4 crore for the most innovative, inspiring, and breakthrough ideas, in addition to mentorship and awareness, and distribution support.
In a company statement, Anchit Nayar, CEO of Beauty for NYKAA e-Commerce, said, the program is “a chance for us to give back to the ecosystem by fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs in the beauty and lifestyle verticals. Beauty&You is an opportunity for us to identify and nurture talented founders to build truly unique consumer brands for the Indian consumer, and potentially for the world.”
Shana Randhava, Vice President, New Incubation Ventures, The Estée Lauder Companies, said the hope is that the program “will be a catalyst for Indian entrepreneurs to fuel their passion, brand, and mission”.
According to an Economic Times report, Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif, who is also the founder of Kay Beauty; celebrity designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Samarth Bedi, the executive director of premium beauty brand Forest Essentials, are among the industry experts who have committed to the program.