L’Oréal invests in Japanese personalised beauty start-up

L’Oréal’s corporate venture capital fund Bold has announced a minority investment in Japanese beauty startup Sparty Inc. This marks L'Oréal's first venture capital investment in Japan.

Sparty, which is based in Tokyo, has created a direct-to-consumer business model that offers consumers personalised products and consumer experience.

The company first launched Medulla haircare, which creates personalised shampoo and care products for customers based on their hair type and scalp, in 2018.

Hotaru, Sparty's second brand focuses on skincare and uses answers to a 10 question survey as well as images of the user's skin to create personalised lotions and moisturisers. In the first three weeks of its launch in 2020 the brand had conducted 10,000 skin diagnoses.

Jean-Pierre Charriton, Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal Japan said: “Japan is one of the most sophisticated and influential beauty markets. In Japan, personalised consumer experience is highly valued, and we are seeing new trends and innovations when it comes to personalisation, especially in beauty. We are thrilled to be partnering with Sparty, a pioneer in personalised beauty as well as a game changer within Japan’s growing D2C market.”

Yosuke Miyama, Founder and CEO of Sparty Inc. added: “With Sparty’s proven track record in personalisation and L’Oréal’s leadership in the worldwide beauty market, we are confident that we will be able to embark on the next chapter of our growth journey and scale our business even further, both in Japan and overseas, to the fullest potential."