Following Up
The world’s largest cosmetics company, L’Oréal Group, will take the lead in fostering K-beauty tech. A number of executives from the company’s headquarters visited Korea to discuss the details of the Big Bang Program launched in response to an open innovation business agreement signed with the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
According to industry sources on June 26, a group of about 30 executives from L’Oréal Group, including Deputy CEO at L’Oreal in charge of Research, Innovation, and Technology Barbara Lavernos, visited Korea on June 25. They will stay in Korea for about a week and will meet with Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Young on June 29 to coordinate the details of their collaboration with the Korea government ministry. They will also discuss collaboration with companies participating in the Big Bang program and meet with partners in Korea.
L’Oréal Group has a wide range of technologies in the cosmetics sector. It operates 20 research centers in 11 countries around the world and employs more than 4,000 research and innovation personnel.
Previously, at Viva Technology 2023 in Paris, France, L’Oréal officials met with Minister Lee and signed an agreement to launch the Big Bang Program. The Big Bang Program is a startup incubation program launched by L’Oréal in North Asia. It has been running in China since 2020 and will be implemented in Korea and Japan beginning from this year. In Korea, the program will focus on beauty technology, devices, skin diagnostics and delivery systems that combine digital and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
The L’Oréal officials will also visit Medicon’s hospitals to see first-hand medical services related to Korea’s beauty and healthcare services that are leading the global market.