Indian Startups Win Big at L’Oréal’s SAPMENA Beauty Tech Program
Sravathi AI and Without secure top honors in L’Oréal’s leading innovation challenge.
Two Indian innovators—Sravathi AI and Without—have emerged as winners in L’Oréal’s prestigious SAPMENA Beauty Tech Innovation Program 2025, earning commercial pilot opportunities and year-long mentorship across 35 global markets.
Indian startups Sravathi AI and Without have been selected as winners in L’Oréal’s 2025 SAPMENA Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program, the largest open innovation initiative across the South Asia Pacific, Middle East, and North Africa (SAPMENA) region.
The two Indian innovators, along with Halo AI (UAE) and Heatseeker (Australia), will now collaborate with one of L’Oréal’s 37 global brands through a funded commercial pilot. They will also receive year-long mentorship from senior leaders at L’Oréal, as well as program partners including Accenture, Google, and Meta. Wubble AI (Singapore) was honored with a Special Mention.
Representing SAPMENA’s growing pool of high-potential innovators, these startups demonstrate the strength of the region’s entrepreneurial landscape—driven by demographic growth, rising digital adoption, and a young, tech-forward consumer base. India’s standout performance in this edition reinforces the country’s expanding role in global innovation.
Vismay Sharma, President of L’Oréal SAPMENA Zone, noted, “SAPMENA is one of the world’s fastest-evolving regions, powered by millions of digital-first consumers. As innovation centers shift worldwide, the pitches at the Grand Finale clearly showed how this region is shaping the future. Partnering with these innovators will accelerate beauty tech transformation across our ecosystem.”
Saloni Shah Javeri, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer at L’Oréal India, added, “We are proud to see Indian startups win for the second consecutive year. Their solutions reflect India’s growing stature as a global innovation hub. These homegrown innovators are bringing technology and beauty together in powerful ways.”
The 2025 edition attracted more than 50,000 startups, with applications spanning Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand. After a nine-month selection process, ten finalists presented breakthrough ideas in areas including Consumer Experience, Content & Media, New Commerce, Tech for Good, and Science for Beauty during the Grand Finale in Singapore on November 7. Last year, India’s NeuralGarage and Live2.ai were among the winners.
L’Oréal continues to invest in innovation leadership. In 2025, the Group was named Europe’s Most Innovative Company by Fortune, and featured in Fast Company’s list of Top 50 Best Workplaces for Innovators, securing the top spot in the Beauty & Fashion category.
Winner Highlights
Sravathi AI (India)
Sravathi AI operates a silico chemistry platform that integrates AI, molecular modeling, biochemistry, and chemical engineering to accelerate pharmaceutical development. Its AI-driven drug discovery engine identifies and optimizes promising drug candidates, reducing risks and speeding up development timelines. Its advanced Chemistry AI tools also enable automated synthesis planning, yield optimization, impurity prediction, and scalable process design.
Without (India)
Without (Ashaya), a Pune-based deep-tech social enterprise, is transforming unrecyclable plastic waste into premium, recyclable materials using its patented chemo-mechanical process. Focused on simultaneously addressing plastic pollution and social impact, the company turns multi-layered packaging waste—often considered “impossible-to-recycle”—into safe, high-quality materials, creating circular, ethical, and socially inclusive solutions.
Halo AI (UAE)
Halo AI helps brands simplify creator marketing by using AI to identify authentic nano and micro-influencers. The platform reduces manual campaign processes by 80%, enabling quick, data-driven, and personalized influencer collaborations that deliver stronger engagement and authenticity.
Heatseeker (Australia)
Heatseeker enables brands to run real-time, in-market consumer experiments using AI, replacing slow and unreliable traditional research. By testing messages, products, and audiences directly on platforms like Meta and LinkedIn, the system delivers fast, evidence-based insights to guide new product launches and market entry.
Special Mention: Wubble AI (Singapore)
Wubble AI offers enterprise-grade generative AI for creating customizable, royalty-free music in seconds. From digital campaigns and virtual try-ons to in-store experiences, it helps brands build personalized sonic identities and rapidly test audio branding strategies.