French beauty giant L’Oréal has acquired a minority stake in compatriot Microphyt, a producer of microalgae-based natural active ingredients, via its BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development) venture capital fund.
Founded in 2007 and located near Montpellier, Microphyt makes actives such as Phycosi for anti-ageing, Luteana for sensitive skin, and Renouvellance for UV and pollution protection.
L’Oréal said the partnership will build a technological platform and combine material and human resources to create raw materials from microalgae biomass.
The ambition of both companies is to establish a long-term partnership for the development of new cosmetic solutions, it added.
Barbara Lavernos, deputy CEO in charge of research, innovation and technology at L’Oréal Group, said: “We are very pleased to pursue this new partnership with Microphyt, which will enable us, thanks to its unique natural solutions derived from microalgae, to further accelerate our drive towards more sustainable beauty”.
Vincent Usache, managing director of Microphyt, added: “The technological platform in an ‘extended lab’ mode is perfectly complementary to our own activities.
“With L'Oréal, this new technological platform will help us speed up the development of eco-designed ingredients, as well as facilitate the scale-up of our production”.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
