Singapore will host the grand finale of L’Oréal’s 2025 SAPMENA Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program on 7 November, bringing together ten pioneering startups from South Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa (SAPMENA). These companies, selected after an extensive evaluation process by industry experts, will compete for a L’Oréal-funded commercial pilot and a year-long mentorship with senior executives.
The Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program is the largest open innovation initiative of its kind across the SAPMENA region. It aims to uncover and support scalable, technology-driven solutions that address major challenges in the beauty industry, from consumer experience and new commerce to sustainability and advanced science.
Finalists tackling diverse beauty industry challenges
The selected startups reflect the diversity and creativity within the region’s tech and beauty sectors. They include Singapore-based Betterdata, which specialises in privacy-focused synthetic data generation for analytics and model training, and Wubble.ai, the world’s first enterprise-grade AI solution for generating personalised, royalty-free music.
From the UAE, Digital First AI helps brands supercharge marketing campaigns through proprietary AI agents, while Halo AI supports companies in scaling content creator collaborations using AI-driven analysis. Australia is represented by Heatseeker, which enables marketers to run real-time consumer experiments, Newera Bio, developing sustainable bio-based dyes and binders, and Springboards, an AI platform enhancing creativity for marketing teams.
India contributes Infloso AI, a suite of AI tools for marketers and creators, Sravathi AI, which applies silico chemistry for pharmaceutical development, and Without, a materials science company transforming unrecyclable waste into high-quality, recyclable materials.
Global collaboration driving innovation
At the finale, finalists will pitch to a judging panel featuring leaders from L’Oréal, Google, Meta and Veros Ventures. Winners will gain the chance to pilot their solutions with one of L’Oréal’s 37 global brands and reach up to 35 SAPMENA markets.
Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, Chief Marketing and Digital Officer for L’Oréal SAPMENA, said, “The high quality of entries for the 2025 Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program truly speaks to the exceptional creativity and ingenuity of these innovative startups in beauty tech. At L’Oréal, we know that we cannot innovate alone, and collaborating with these leading startups allows us to explore new ideas, test groundbreaking solutions and push the boundaries of beauty tech to redefine what beauty can be. Congratulations to the teams competing in the Grand Finale and I look forward to seeing their pitches in Singapore this November.”
The program highlights L’Oréal’s ongoing commitment to innovation. The company was named in Fast Company’s Top 50 2024 Best Workplaces for Innovators list and won the Beauty and Fashion category for fostering creativity across its workforce.
Building a platform for emerging beauty tech talent
The Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program welcomes startups from Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, the UAE and Vietnam. Participants explore solutions within five key themes: Consumer Experience, Content and Media, New Commerce, Tech for Good, and Science for Beauty.
Regional finals have been held in the Middle East, India, Australia and New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, with winners advancing to the SAPMENA grand finale. The top three at the Singapore event will secure pilot opportunities and mentorship, with the chance to scale globally through L’Oréal’s network.
