On 17 October, Estée Lauder’s early-stage investment arm New Incubation Ventures (NIV), along with beauty marketplace Nykaa, announced the winners of the third Beauty&You Awards at The Leela Palace in New Delhi. The event was attended by leaders from the local fashion industry, beauty professionals and representatives from Nykaa, the unicorn company that disrupted beauty retail in India. William Lauder, executive chairman of Estée Lauder Companies (ELC), and Falguni Nayar, Nykaa CEO and founder, were among attendees.
NIV partners with forward-thinking innovators to create, fund and support the most promising beauty brands, cutting-edge technologies and transformative business models to shape the future of beauty, creating a pipeline of diversified brands and new engines of growth for the ELC portfolio. In 2022, NIV launched Beauty&You as a platform to discover, spotlight and propel the next generation of India’s beauty brands — one of the largest beauty markets in the world and a region that is brimming with opportunity. For 2024, the programme built on the success of previous years, centring on the theme of ‘Supercharged Futures’.
To a panel of 14 industry and key opinion leaders — including NIV SVP Shana Randhava, eponymous fashion brand founder Tarun Tahiliani and Vogue Business contributing editor Sujata Assomull — 12 finalists across skincare, makeup, fragrance and more, showcased concepts and products from clinically advanced skincare to breakthrough haircare innovation. Brands applied across three achievement categories: ‘Grow’, covering in-market brands; ‘Imagine’, for pre-market startups; and ‘Create’, offering a platform for brand storytelling.
The evening opened with a keynote address from Shri Sanjiv Singh, joint secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, highlighting what a pivotal time it is for companies to invest in India. He shared that the region has the largest startup ecosystem in the world, with 47 per cent of those startups having one or more female directors. Programmes like Beauty&You help companies get off the ground by fostering local talent.
“The winners of Beauty&You 2024 represent a diverse blend of creative founders and breakthrough innovators,” said Randhava. “Their ideas and vision truly exemplify the innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit that’s representative of beauty’s future. For the third year in a row, we witnessed some extraordinary concepts, and the winners stand out as pioneers poised to make significant impact — each bringing a unique perspective to India’s dynamic beauty landscape. We look forward to offering mentorship and support to the winners as they expand their visions, seeking a wider audience both in India and around the world.”
The wins and rewards
In the Grow category, the common thread between entries was a science-led, data-driven approach to product. SkinInspired, a science-backed skincare company that uses multi-active ingredients, emerged as winner. Founded by P&G alum Piyush Jain and dermatologist Dr Prashant Agrawal, SkinInspired aims to create an affordable yet premium product range for South Asian skin concerns.
For the Imagine category, the high calibre of competition this year resulted in two winners: Not Just Vanilla and Amright. Not Just Vanilla redefines bodycare with targeted, results-driven solutions for overlooked areas, while Amright combines clinically proven Swiss ingredients with genetic research to promote female hair regrowth.
The Create winner, meanwhile, was e-commerce marketplace Journey of Objects, which was founded by journalist Alia Allana with the aim of embracing sustainability and preserving the cultural diversity of India through industry research and thoughtful product curation. The wide spectrum of winners highlights the transformation taking place across the beauty industry, deeply influenced by Indian traditions and culture, yet taking a new-age approach to products.
Beauty&You India provides award recipients with financial support via a prize pool of up to INR 10 million ($118,300), distribution channel access, mentorship, as well as research and innovation resources. A welcome addition to this year’s programme is that winners can access the Beauty&You India Bootcamp, featuring one-to-one mentorship sessions with various industry leaders. This unique opportunity is designed to provide winners with invaluable insights and guidance from experts to affirm the programme’s commitment to fostering the growth and development of India’s next generation of beauty entrepreneurs.
Words of wisdom
Prior to the awards ceremony, there were several panel discussions. In the first fireside chat, ELC’s Lauder spoke with Rohan Vaziralli, general manager at ELCA Cosmetics Private Limited, about innovation and leadership in the industry. Lauder emphasised that the essence of any long-lasting brand lies in maintaining its core DNA while adapting to changing consumer needs; for ELC, this has meant staying true to its founding principles alongside growing its portfolio of 29 brands.
“My grandmother, Mrs Estée Lauder, started the company by making her first product — a cream — in the kitchen of a restaurant,” Lauder explained on the company’s homegrown heritage. “Her passion for making women feel good about themselves was the foundation of the company’s success. In prestige beauty, it’s the passion of the founder that is really important.”
The following talk, titled ‘The Culture of Beauty’, featured Stéphane de La Faverie, ELC executive group president, designer Tahiliani, and Style Cell CEO Anaita Shroff-Adajania, one of India’s leading stylists. The talk explored how culture shapes beauty and creates consumer needs, paving the way for new ingredients, innovations, retail experiences and engagement models. “There is something special about the way it [India] is evolving. Looking at it from the viewpoint of coming here every six months… you see the massive transformation that is happening faster than anywhere around the world — the digitalisation, the upgrading of infrastructure, the way of being able to talk to the consumer,” said de la Faverie.
“India has embraced these values very early on,” Tahiliani added. “Indianness is our thing. Being authentic is our responsibility, 75 years on from independence. Fashion and beauty have an Indian way, and it’s wonderful to see brands embrace this.” Tahiliani coined the term “Indian modern” to represent the blend of tradition and modernity in Indian fashion.
Despite Western influences in early Indian fashion, authentic beauty remains centred on textiles, natural elements like kohl and flowers, and traditional values. Shroff-Adajania spoke about how, in India, it’s the red carpet that creates the trends, and this is something international brands need to take stock of. Estée Lauder, for example, has long tapped into the Bollywood scene, becoming the first global beauty brand to appoint actor Diana Penty as brand ambassador. “Stylists are creating trends,” Shroff-Adajania said, advising global brands to work more closely with celebrity stylists. She also referenced the “Indian eye” as crucial to the region’s beauty look, with women often playing up this facial feature. “This is something that stands out globally.”
In the next conversation, Nykaa CEO Nayar was joined by The Economic Times consulting editor Gautam Srinivasan to explore the idea of “unlocking the power of opportunity and entrepreneurship”.
“Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster ride,” stated Nayar, advising entrepreneurs to avoid getting overwhelmed when things aren’t going well. As a retailer, she aspires to help build brands, and discussed how retailers can guide brands through direct feedback from customers. Nayar emphasised that embracing technology has been a game-changer for Nykaa, from efficiently scaling operations to leveraging social media for marketing. She also spoke about the challenges women face as entrepreneurs, particularly when it comes to raising capital and lacking network opportunities. Her ultimate words of wisdom? Women should not let societal expectations limit their ambitions.
The last conversation was a panel featuring last year’s award winners: Hetali Kamdar, founder of Baboski; Khanak Gupta, co-founder of Sohrai; and Rhea Goenka, founder of Poshan. Moderated by Sumit Bhasin, SVP of global fragrance innovation, product development and R&D at ELC, the discussion explored the breakthroughs these brands have had in skincare. Innovations include Kamdar’s SPF body wash, aimed at simplifying suncare for those too busy to apply creams, and Gupta’s biotech approach to integrating superfoods and probiotics into skincare products. Meanwhile, Goenka discussed her brand’s journey in working with impoverished communities in India to create jobs and support sustainable development. All three spoke of the importance of innovation and perseverance for young entrepreneurs, citing tenacity and adaptability as critical factors.
The event concluded by highlighting the transformative shifts taking place in India’s beauty and fashion industries. Platforms like Beauty&You are instrumental in fostering fledgling innovations and businesses through essential financial backing, mentorship and access to industry resources. This transformation is further fuelled by rising disposable incomes, a growing appetite for premium products and the increasing influence of women entrepreneurs.
Ultimately, it’s the passion and agility of founders and brands in an ever-evolving ecosystem that ensures long-term success. Staying grounded in one’s core values and ethos may just be the key to navigating the fast-evolving Indian market.
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