No, there is no application fee or participation fee.

Although L’Oréal SAPMENA seeks early to mid-stage start-ups that fit the challenge themes, the Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program encourages applications from companies at all stages of fundraising.

Preference during the shortlisting process will be given to companies with transformative potential that will benefit the most from the Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program curriculum and strategic partner mentorship. Startups of any size and stage are welcome to apply if they fit the needs and criteria that L’Oréal SAPMENA are looking for. You can see the criteria here.

We are looking forward to leveraging advanced technology across the industry to help the development of Beauty Tech. If your technology is mature and you have already thought and considered the value that the beauty industry can bring, L’Oréal is experienced to accelerate the transformation of cross-industry technology; if not, we can explore together based on the platform L’Oréal provides.

Your application will capture necessary details about your startup, and the submission proposal will outline the challenge statement(s) you are responding to, your proposal for L’Oréal, as well as relevant examples and use cases. Make sure that your application and pitch deck answer all the selection criteria. You are required to submit a 2-minute video. The final pitch deck that you use for this application and the one you can use at the semi-final or final events may be different.

Here are the points we recommend including in your deck:
1. Problem / Unmet Need
2. Market Information
3. Your Solution / Technology Overview: include product photo or rendering and expected Beauty Tech outcomes
4. Competitive Advantage / Differentiation
5. Validation
6. Value Proposition / Beauty Tech Economics
7. Business model, Reimbursement Strategy (if applicable)
8. IP Status: include broadest claims sought
9. Key Milestones / Timeline for go-to-market: include funding required to achieve each milestone point
10. Summary, including Value Proposition
11. Team: photos with logos below from companies they have worked for previously
12. Advisors / Partners: photos with logos below from companies they work for currently

The regional finals are held online for the Middle East, India region, Australia and New Zealand region, and Southeast Asia region. The grand finale is an in-person event held in Singapore in November 2026.

More details on the location of the event are available on the full timeline here.

The goal of the Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program is to provide L’Oréal SAPMENA with a solution that accomplishes all business unit objectives described on the challenge pages. Finalists will be expected to, at minimum, demo a prototype of a solution that accomplishes all criteria by the end of the program.

If your current business/product does not accomplish all objectives, applications, and features described on the challenge page, you will be expected to elaborate on your plan to fill these gaps during the PoC proposal phase. This typically involves a collaborative proposal with other parties or a plan for how you will allocate a lean pilot budget toward product development.

So, if you do not currently satisfy all criteria, but you are willing and able to solve for the gaps during your demo preparation and pilot period through strategic partnerships and/or product development, then please apply!

Product readiness: See the challenge pages for specific feature requirements and business objectives. Strong applications will satisfy most or all of these criteria.

Business maturity: Applicants should be revenue-generating with the resource capacity (team and runway) to work with their first commercial partner. Traction in commercial environments will be viewed favorably, but is not required. Outside investment raised will be viewed favorably, but is not required.

Team: The application will favor teams who have multiple founders, founders with experience working/piloting in commercial environments, and technical founders.

Brand story: Businesses with a brand that aligns with L’Oréal’s values of sustainability, diversity, equity, and inclusion will be viewed favorably, but this is not a requirement.

You must have your application submitted by 3 July 2026, 11:59PM Singapore Time (GMT+8).

The judges will be a range of L’Oréal brand, business, and domain experts across the problem statement themes and relevant technologies.

All semi-finalists and finalists will have the opportunity to attend a pitch training and preparation session, including one-to-one coaching.

The personnel and experts involved in the organization and evaluation of the competition are committed to treating all matters confidentially. For more information, please check the T&Cs.

We will respond to all applicants on advancement decisions in each phase.

You will retain ownership of the IP developed by your company during the program. However, there may be some non-compete terms to be agreed on in the post-program negotiation phase. This may include a list of direct competitors in the region with whom L’Oréal limits its vendors from doing business.