L’Oréal selects two Indian climate-tech startups for second L’AcceleratOR cohort

Without and Nexus join 11 other companies from eight countries in L’Oréal’s €100 million sustainability accelerator. The Indian startups will develop pilot projects spanning packaging recycling and agricultural-waste battery technology, with potential to scale across L’Oréal operations over six to nine months.

— Source publishedFri, 18 Sept, 2026, 16:56 IST·First seen Fri, 18 Sept, 2026, 17:00 IST·Source Entrackr

What happened

L'Oréal selected Indian climate-tech startups Without and Nexus for its second L’AcceleratOR sustainability cohort. The €100 million programme will support

Key facts

  • 2 Indian startups
  • 13 companies
  • 8 countries
  • €100 million (around Rs 1,000 crore) fund
  • 6 to 9 month pilot projects

Why this matters

L’Oréal is using accelerator-led pilots to build an India-based sustainability deal pipeline, creating potential partnership, investment, and acquisition targets in circular packaging and clean-energy technology.

What to watch

  • Announcement of pilot locations, L’Oréal brands involved, and named local manufacturing or recycling partners.
  • Commercial agreements, purchase orders, equity investments, or follow-on funding involving Without or Nexus.
  • Evidence that recycled material meets cosmetics packaging specifications and is incorporated into retail-ready products.
  • Regulatory changes or incentives for recycled plastic, extended producer responsibility, battery storage, or agricultural-waste utilization in India.
  • L’Oréal reporting quantified pilot outcomes in cost savings, recycled-content volume, emissions reductions, or energy resilience.
  • Launch defined India pilot sites with packaging, operations, procurement, and local manufacturing teams.
  • Set technical KPIs for recycled-content quality, traceability, cost per unit, carbon reduction, battery safety, and supply reliability.
  • Use pilot outcomes to identify Indian packaging converters, waste aggregators, and energy-storage partners capable of commercial-scale deployment.
  • Expand successful solutions into Southeast Asia and other high-growth markets with similar waste-stream and supply-chain conditions.
  • Increase competitive pressure on beauty peers to source local circular-packaging and climate-tech partnerships in India.

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