Sephora celebrates Accelerate Program’s 5th anniversary

Sephora is celebrating the five-year anniversary of its Accelerate Program by marking the achievement of its goal to support 50 women-led businesses by 2020.

By unveiling the lineup of its 2020 Cohort, the beauty retailer’s Accelerate 2020 program also includes two new global territories — Germany and Singapore — that totals 10 countries this year, the company said.

Focused on the journeys of 13 guiding founders achieving their individual business goals via a multi-month program led by Sephora executives, goals included but were not limited to mentorship, marketing stewardship, networking, social media training, growth plans and funding strategy planning.

Other program key milestones included more than $850,000 in grants and funding to participating founders; assistance in securing space in a major retailer; and launching seven new beauty brands — LXMI, Vitruvi, Skylar, The 7 Virtues, Ahal, AloeLab and Ho Karan.

“Our goal with the Sephora Accelerate program was to not only help 50-plus, high-potential, women-led businesses get their big break, but to also create a lasting and sustainable community for all those involved to benefit from long after their participation in the program,” Corrie Conrad, vice president of Sephora Stands (D&I, social impact and sustainability) at Sephora, said. “We are proud of what this program has accomplished in five short years, from helping dozens of individual businesses thrive to creating personal and professional connections and education for all. The program is ever expanding, and with brands from Germany and Singapore on board for the first time this year, we look forward to building an even richer and more diverse experience now and into the future.”

As members of the 2020 Accelerate Cohort, the founders will participate in programming dedicated to fostering brand growth throughout the year, the company said.

Brands making up the 2020 Sephora Accelerate Cohort include:

• Angela Cagila Skincare, founded by Angela Cagila in the United States, encourages consumers to create facial self-care rituals at home;
• OWA Haircare, founded by Kailey Bradt in the United States, is a water activated clean beauty product;
• Nala Care, founded by Ada Juristovski in Canada, is a skin care brand that has been driven by a personal loss for the founder;
• Mawena, founded by Helena Mendes in France, is a vegan, cruelty-free skin care line created through prisms of green beauty for all;
• Five Dot Botanicals, founded by Zaffrin O’Sullivan in the United Kingdom, is a gender-neutral skin care brand that only uses five ingredients in each product;
• Gitti, founded by Jennifer Baum in Germany, is a vegan nail color brand;
• Own Authentic Cosmetics, founded by Renate Lozano in Mexico, is a clean cosmetics brand that allows consumers to customize their own collections;
• Sobrebarba, founded by Fernanda Kawazoe in Brazil, offers grooming products derived from natural sources;
• Skinlycious, founded by Jasmine Kang in Singapore, provides solutions for acne and acne-prone and oily skin;
• Zero Waste Beauty, co-founded by Aileen Wei in China, is a vegan personal care line that focuses on sustainability;
• Habitual Beauty, founded by Keira Rumble in Australia, is a line of beauty, food, nutraceutical and wellness products that have been backed by science;
• Curl IQ, co-founded by Kymberlee Hill in the United States, aims to turn photos of textured hair into personalized product recommendations; and
• The Most, founded by Dawn Myers in the United States, is an all-in-one styling tool that streamlines the process of detangling and applying products to textured hair.