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Estée Lauder Companies announced Wednesday that it was joining forces with Startup India, an Indian government programme that aims to strengthen the country’s innovation pipeline in beauty and personal care. The partnership was established through a memorandum within India’s Department of Commerce and Industry.
The partnership will see the expansion of ELC’s Beauty&You initiative, an entrepreneurial programme designed to discover and nurture the country’s next generation of beauty brands. Beauty&You, which was founded in 2022, currently supports India-focused start-ups with grants and mentorship and has attracted over 1,500 applicants since its inception.
The company also announced that it will be creating an offshoot of the programme that specifically targets female founders.
The news is the latest in a string of moves that has seen major beauty players invest in the Indian beauty market. By 2027, BoF and McKinsey estimate that India’s beauty market to be worth $21 billion.
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“India is a key strategic market for ELC, with a rapidly evolving prestige beauty industry and a vibrant, tech-driven startup ecosystem redefining innovation,” Stéphane de La Faverie, president and chief executive of Estée Lauder Companies, said in a statement. “ELC remains deeply committed to shaping the future of beauty in this dynamic landscape.”
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