(From Left to Right) Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Founder & CEO JOYUS, Rachel Weiss, VP, Digital Innovation, Content, and New Business Ventures of L’Oréal USA and Chair of Women in Digital, Actress, Olivia Munn, Heather Marie, Founder & CEO, 72Lux, Kelsey Falter, Founder & CEO, Poptip

Recruiting women into the digital realm is no easy fete. But L’Oréal USA is leading the effort with not only its Women in Digital initiative, founded in 2012 to address the underrepresentation of women working in digital, technology and IT functions, but also by recognizing their achievements.

At its second annual L’Oréal USA Women in Digital NEXT Generation Awards Ceremony, held July 17th in New York City, the French beauty giant honored three women changing the face of technology. The awards were established to recognize and provide opportunities for female entrepreneurs who are revolutionizing the beauty industry with the development of innovative online companies geared primarily towards female consumers.

“It’s so important for us to have technology that speaks to women, created by women,” said Rachel Weiss, L’Oréal USA’s VP of Digital Strategy and Marketing, at the event.

Special guest Olivia Munn, star of HBO’s “The Newsroom,” announced the 2013 winners, who were selected from a pool of over 1,600 nominations. They are:

Heather Marie, Founder & CEO of 72Luxe, a patent-pending software that enables digital publishers to sell the products they feature in editorials, providing a stream of revenue for both the publisher and retailer. It also creates a unique user experience by giving consumers the ability to buy the products shown, without leaving the publisher’s website.

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Founder & CEO of Joyus, the world’s first online video shopping platform for consumers. The website produces short videos featuring editorial content from fashion, beauty and lifestyle experts, and allows customers to purchase the products presented directly from the video’s interface.

Kelsey Falter, Founder & CEO of Poptip, a software platform that helps companies analyze crowd conversation by providing instant feedback from social media networks, as well as real-time data analysis tools.

“I’m very excited to be honored with this award because it’s providing me a platform to do something unique and cutting-edge with a major brand,” said Heather, founder of 72Luxe, who along with the other winners will be given the opportunity to apply the functionality of their ground-breaking technology with L’Oréal products. Additionally, they will all receive mentorship from the program’s Advisory Board members and partners, and be introduced to investors and executives.

“As a woman entrepreneur, it’s nice to see other women recognized for creating change in the digital and technical fields,” said Sukhinder of Joyus. “L’Oréal’s program is not only elevating women, but challenging them to step out of their comfort zone and do something they are passionate about.”

Added Kelsey of Poptip, “I’ve never been part of a community of women in tech before. It’s exciting to be around the culture of innovative companies led by females.”

At the end of the ceremony, a check for $25,000 was presented to Girls Who Code, a nonprofit that works to empower high school girls with the skills and resources to pursue academic and career opportunities in computing fields. The money will be used to establish a scholarship with the hope of providing a young woman with the financial support to become the next female-leader in technology.