Sephora North America has announced their list of women-led, independent beauty companies set to receive financial and advisory support from the global beauty retailer this year. Among them are several brands focusing on textured hair, organic skin care and customizable products. A common thread among this year’s companies, noted Corrie Conrad, Vice President, Sephora Stands (D&I, Social Impact, and Sustainability), is their commitment to sustainability.

“Previously we’ve had sustainability as a separate category. This year it’s organically showing up within the product and merchandising brands,” Corrie said. She cited U.S.-based OWA hair care as an example, a waterless hair care formula, and China’s Zero Waste Beauty, a vegan personal care line using powdered formulas.

Sephora Accelerate, which launched five years ago, has donated more than $850,000 in grants and funding to participating founders, and has assisted all merchandising brands with securing space in major retailers. Each of this year’s 13 founders will participate in a one-week boot camp led by Sephora corporate employees. Founders will also receive personalized, one-on-one mentoring for specific business challenges; monetary grants, and an invitation to pitch industry experts, venture partners and Sephora leaders at Sephora Accelerate Demo Day later in the year.

Corrie added that former cohort brands are faring well.

“We are seeing good traction for each business that has been through the Accelerate Program. There will be more news to soon share with an upcoming launch at Sephora. And, looking at 2018’s cohorts, six companies who were looking to raise money did so with each averaging about $1.5 million.

This year the group of brands represents 10 countries, including Germany and Singapore, which are new to the cohort. Here, this year’s Sephora Accelerate Cohort:

    • Angela Caglia Skincare (U.S.), founded by Angela Caglia, is a natural product line that empowers the consumer to create facial self-care rituals at home. Dedicated to developing supercharged formulas to match even the most sensitive skin, each product contains organic and natural ingredients to protect skin from inflammation and over sensitization.
    • OWA Haircare (U.S.), founded by Kailey Bradt, is a first-of-a-kind water-activated clean beauty product. Its waterless, concentrated formulas are not only good for the planet, but also good for you and your hair, too.
    • Nala (Canada), founded by Ada Juristovski, is a skin care company driven by a personal loss for the founders. All products are free from carcinogens, aluminum, parabens, phthalates, propylene glycol and cruelty.
    • Mawena (France), founded by Helena Mendes, is a vegan, cruelty-free, organic skin care line created through the prisms of green beauty for all, engagement and inclusivity. The brand has a 100 percent Mayan Women’s cooperative in Mexico and donates a percentage of proceeds for each product sold.
    • Five Dot Botanic (U.K.), co-founded by Zaffrin O’Sullivan, is a gender-neutral minimal ingredient skin care brand using only five ingredients in each product.
    • Gitti (Germany), founded by Jennifer Baum, is a natural-based, vegan nail color brand, with a mission to revolutionize the nail polish industry with better products for consumers and for the sustainability of the planet.
    • Own Authentic Cosmetics (Mexico), founded by Renate Lozano, is a clean cosmetic brand designed to change the customer’s experience with customizable products. Clients can customize their own collections, creating their own kind of beauty.
    • SOBREBARBA (Brazil), co-founded by Fernanda Kawazoe, is the first beard care company in Brazil offering grooming products derived from natural sources. They encourage recycling and to “always act responsibly,” with a percentage of profits donated to reforestation projects in the Amazon rainforest.
    • Skinlycious (Singapore), founded by Jasmine Kang, aspires to be a one-stop skin care solution for acne, acne-prone and oily skin. With distinctive active ingredients that cater to different groups of acne-battlers, the products are backed by scientific and clinical research.
    • Zero Waste Beauty (China), co-founded by Aileen Wei, is a vegan personal care line with sustainability at its core. Its bath, body and perfume products are oil and powder based, formulated with plant-based ingredients, and packaged in biodegradable and recycled materials to adhere to its zero waste principles.
    • Habitual Beauty (Australia), founded by Keira Rumble, is a line of beauty food, nutraceutical and wellness products. Backed by science and making use of high-quality ingredients, the brand aids to seamlessly fit into women’s routines to slow down the visible signs of aging.
    • Curl IQ (U.S.), co-founded by Kymberlee Hill, turns photos of textured hair into personalized product recommendations, offering consumers with textured hair an easy and personalized shopping experience, and helping brands drive customer interaction and conversation.
    • THE MOST (U.S.), founded by Dawn Myers, is an all-in-one styling tool designed to streamline the process of detangling and applying product to highly textured hair, making the process faster, easier and more convenient.