Nykaa and L’Oréal’s BOLD will take minority stakes in high-growth beauty, personal care and wellness brands while founders retain operational and creative control
Nykaa and BOLD, the corporate venture capital fund of L’Oréal, have joined hands to invest in emerging Indian beauty, personal care and wellness brands, bringing together Nykaa’s consumer and retail ecosystem with L’Oréal’s global beauty expertise.
Under the partnership, BOLD and Nykaa will take minority stakes in high-growth brands. The investments will be purely financial, with founders retaining full ownership and continuing to run their businesses independently, including their teams, culture and creative direction.
Founders To Retain Control
The partnership is structured to provide emerging brands with capital while allowing founders to maintain operational independence. Alongside financial investment, the companies will offer portfolio brands mentorship, guidance and access to their respective networks and expertise.
L’Oréal’s BOLD will bring its global beauty expertise, network and mentoring capabilities, while Nykaa will provide access to its omnichannel retail network, consumer ecosystem and distribution capabilities. The stated objective is to help Indian beauty entrepreneurs scale their brands faster and build businesses for both the Indian and global markets.
The size of the investments and the overall corpus to be deployed under the partnership have not been disclosed. The companies have also not announced the names of the brands that may receive investment or a timeline for the first transactions.
BOLD’s India Beauty Portfolio
Launched in 2018, BOLD invests across the beauty value chain, including innovative and high-growth startups in beauty and wellness as well as science and technology for beauty.
In India, the fund has previously invested in beauty and personal care brands including Deconstruct, Arata and Chosen.
The latest collaboration expands BOLD’s engagement with India’s beauty entrepreneurship ecosystem by combining its investment and industry expertise with Nykaa’s position as a major beauty retail and consumer platform.
Nykaa Expands Its Beauty Ecosystem
For Nykaa, the partnership comes as the company continues to expand beyond its core retail operations and build a broader portfolio of beauty brands.
Its House of Nykaa portfolio includes brands such as Nykaa Cosmetics, Kay Beauty, Dot & Key and Earth Rhythm. The company had more than 60 million customers and 324 offline beauty destinations as of June 30, 2026, according to L’Oréal’s announcement.
Anchit Nayar, Executive Director and CEO, Nykaa Beauty, said the two companies have worked together in India for more than a decade and that their experience has helped them understand what it takes to build a promising brand into an enduring one.
He said combining Nykaa’s consumer ecosystem, retail network and distribution with L’Oréal’s global beauty expertise could provide an important platform for the next generation of Indian consumer brands.
L’Oréal Sees Opportunity In Indian Entrepreneurs
Jacques Lebel, Managing Director, L’Oréal India, said India’s beauty market is being driven both by changing consumer needs and a growing ecosystem of entrepreneurs.
Through the partnership, BOLD aims to back founders with capital, mentorship and L’Oréal’s beauty expertise while allowing them to build their brands independently, he said.
The tie-up comes amid growing interest in India’s beauty and personal care market, with digital adoption, premiumisation and younger consumers reshaping how beauty brands are discovered and purchased. Industry estimates cited recently by Financial Express project India’s BPC market to grow from USD 23 billion in FY25 to USD 40 billion by 2030.
The Nykaa-BOLD partnership therefore creates a new route for emerging Indian beauty brands to access both growth capital and established industry and retail capabilities, while keeping founders at the centre of their businesses.
