The ten finalists presented their businesses to a jury of leading industry experts including Katrina Kaif, Actor and Co-Founder, Kay Beauty; Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Founder & CEO, Sabyasachi; Nicola Kilner, Co-Founder & CEO, DECIEM; Deepica Mutyala, Founder & CEO, Live Tinted; Anaita Shroff Adajania, CEO, Style Cell; as well as leaders from The Estee Lauder Companies, NYKAA, Intercos and Sequoia Capital.
The finalists represent a variety of concepts ranging from breakthrough product innovation and re-imagining a centuries-old fragrance tradition to emerging consumer categories such as teen beauty, men’s skin care and digital beauty in the metaverse.
The winners, listed below, were announced at an awards evening at the St. Regis, Mumbai on November 9, 2022:
IMAGINE Category: $75,000 Prize for pre-launch concepts
* Bahut Beauty
Sonya Khubchandani De Castelbajac
Bahut Beauty’s new brand is inspired by India’s ancient historical perfume center at Kannauj – a city in the heart of Uttar Pradesh that is akin to Grasse in France and the lesser known perfume capital of India. Drawing on its venerable tradition, Sonya aims to develop an ethical and thoughtful homegrown brand, Deg & Bhapka(working title), that is experientially driven and celebrates the art and technology of the subcontinent.
GROW Category: $150,000 Prize for in-market businesses
* Skinvest
Divya Malpani
Skinvest creates solutions for skin issues like pigmentation, cellulite and dark circles via innovative products that also focus on gender neutrality and mental health advocacy. The brand currently retails 5 products that seamlessly bridge the gap between clinical and cool.
www.skinvest.com
COMMUNITY Award: $5,000 Prize for the best community engagement
* YAAN MAN
Rahul Shah
As a new-age skincare brand, YAAN MAN is all set to break societal taboos surrounding men and their relationship with skincare and makeup through clean and conscious products that are innovative, derived from nature and engineered for performance.
www.yaanman.com
“The debut edition of our program has witnessed stellar response from new and emerging brands,” said Anchit Nayar, Chief Executive Officer, E-commerce Beauty, NYKKA. “From tapping science and nature to impeccable consumer insight, the entries and finalists showed us the immense potential of beauty brands in India who are gearing up to win consumer’s hearts. This is only the beginning of this journey with the new generation of beauty entrepreneurs in India and we are looking forward to building the future of beauty together.”
“We are so proud of all the finalists who each represented a unique vision for beauty in India and beauty for modern consumers everywhere,” said Shana Randhava, Senior Vice President, New Incubation Ventures, The Estee Lauder Companies notes. “The three winners – Skinvest, Bahut Beauty and YAAN MAN – crafted concepts and businesses that inspired and excited us as to what the future of our industry holds. We look forward to working with them to support their groundbreaking ideas.”
With over 300 entries across 50 Indian cities, the application pool included a multitude of beauty brands across categories – skin care, hair care, fragrance, and colour cosmetics. Brand, product, marketing, and investment experts from ELC and NYKAA reviewed the entire application pool and shortlisted the ten most promising of brands and ideas before selecting winners. Some interesting insights from the applicants:
* Almost 50 per cent were skin care brands
* 95 per cent had a sustainability mission in place
* 80 per cent had a female founder as part of the founding team
* 25 per cent were in the pre-launch “IMAGINE” category
The winners will benefit from access to ELC and NYKAA relationships and expertise across the beauty ecosystem to nurture emerging ideas that amplify Indian voices and address unmet consumer needs. Among other resources, BEAUTY&YOU India will provide award winners with financial support, continued mentorship, increased awareness, and distribution support.
Ians