L’Oréal R&I and Genopole are launching a call for applications for innovative startups in the field of Green Sciences.
- L’ORÉAL, leader in the Beauty sector, with research teams from advanced research to development, formulation, and evaluations. Further collaboration possible after the programme: collaboration, co-development, investment.
- Genopole, stimulates the scale up of biotechnology startups in health and environment, with its Upscale Bio support programme and its technological platforms.
This opportunity is for you if you are:
- Currently developing an innovative solution for cosmetics application or would like to transpose your solution in development to the cosmetics industry.
- Looking for unique lab facilities, business support or technological platforms to bring your solution to the next level.
We are looking for innovators across 3 domains:
- Ingredients from new & resilient feedstocks – sustainable ingredients to reinvent cosmetic functionalities.
- Low carbon technologies – biocircularity, carbon capture & utilisation, industrial side streams, low carbon transformation processes
- Emerging Green Sciences – innovative fermentation processes, emerging green chemistry processes, hybrid technical solutions that revolutionise performance & cost
Timeline
- March 11th: Call for applications opens
- May 6 th: Call for applications closes
- May 20th: Analysis, discussions and selection of winners begin
- July 1st: Winners announcement
- Q4 2026: Start of the program
Accelerate and derisk scaling up
L’Oréal and Genopole will offer a six-month to one-year program, depending on the solution, the technological maturity of the selected startups, and the identified challenges. A support from L’Oréal experts and an access to the following Genopole resources may be offered:
- Expert biotechnology support
The Upscale Bio expert support package: fully tailored (fundraising assistance, communication, market access, technological development, etc.) to accelerate and mitiGATE the scaling up. - Financial assistance for setting up at Genopole
BSL 1 and 2 equipped laboratories, shared services - Privileged access to Genopole’s technology platforms
State-of-the-art equipment: GATEX et Protopia & 21 technology platforms
Genopole operates infrastructures designed to develop bioprocesses, scale up, prototype and test products.
GATEX for derisking precision fermentation up to pilot scale.
GATEX is an infrastructure dedicated to screening strains, media and substrates (including those other than glucose).
GATEX makes it possible to select the best strain and the best medium composed of industrial ingredients, and to test robustness and performance at progressive scales up to a 20–30 L pilot scale using dedicated equipment: screening robots high throughput + fermenters (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30 L).
Protopia for prototyping, formulating and testing.
Protopia is designed as the logical next step after GATEX: once the molecule has been produced, it is time to formulate, prototype and test.
Protopia provides:
- an analytical platform (texturometer, rheometer, refractometer, colorimeter, etc.) to characterise texture and properties,
- 5 secure private boxes with private Wi-Fi network to host projects in complete security,
- laboratory areas: formulation, microbiology, L2 cell culture,
- a professional HACCP-compliant experimental kitchen for testing ingredients derived from precision fermentation.
In addition to these two infrastructures, there are more than 20 shared technology platforms, including: mass spectrometry, structural biology, photonic imaging and flow cytometry, sequencing, etc.
Access to these platforms removes two major obstacles:
- Investment: the start-up does not have to bear the investment and annual maintenance costs of this cutting-edge equipment.
- Skills: the know-how and expertise of the engineers working on the Genopole platforms does not need to be internalised within the start-up.
How does access to the platforms work in practice?
As soon as your start-up is established, Genopole will arrange a meeting to understand your needs and check that your objectives are compatible with the existing equipment. You will be put in touch with experts from each relevant platform so that you can start using them quickly. If the existing platforms and infrastructure do not fully meet your needs, Genopole will do its utmost to acquire the necessary modules or give you access to off-site partner platforms.
Information gathered from Julien Picot, Deputy Director of Infrastructure and Platforms at Genopole.
