Nykaa and L'Oréal's BOLD Fund to Co-Invest in Indian Beauty Brands

Nykaa, India's largest beauty retailer, and L'Oréal's corporate venture fund BOLD will jointly invest in the next generation of high-growth Indian beauty and personal care brands, the two companies announced together.

BOLD, which stands for Business Opportunities for L'Oréal Development, and Nykaa will take minority shares in brands they consider to have strong consumer traction and distinct propositions. The investments will be purely financial in nature, meaning founders keep total ownership and continue to run their businesses independently.

The two partners position themselves as long-term backers. Beyond capital, they will offer mentorship and guidance, plus access to L'Oréal's beauty expertise and to Nykaa's omnichannel retail network and understanding of the consumer ecosystem.

"The intent is to help ambitious Indian beauty founders scale faster and build enduring brands for India and the world," the companies said in a joint statement.

The deal pairs the distribution muscle of India's dominant beauty retailer with the product and research capabilities of the world's largest cosmetics group. For the founders receiving capital, the arrangement offers scale resources without ceding operational control — a structure designed to appeal to entrepreneurs wary of losing independence to strategic investors.

"India is one of the most exciting beauty markets in the world, and its energy comes both from an expanding base of demanding consumers with rapidly evolving needs and from its ecosystem of tremendous entrepreneurs," said Jacques Lebel, managing director of L'Oréal India. "Our commitment to India is stronger than ever, and this is the next major milestone in a journey of partnership and growth that we began over three decades ago."

Nykaa's leadership framed the venture as an extension of a commercial relationship that has already run for more than ten years.

"Nykaa and L'Oréal have been partners in India for over a decade, working together on our shared vision of making India into one of the world's largest and fastest-growing beauty markets," said Anchit Nayar, executive director and chief executive officer of Nykaa Beauty.

"The experience and lessons we have learned along the way have allowed us to understand what it takes to build a promising brand into an enduring one," Nayar continued. "Combining our strong consumer ecosystem, deep retail network and wide distribution, along with L'Oréal's global beauty expertise will be an incredibly valuable asset to the next generation of founders as they look to build consumer brands that India can be proud of."

L'Oréal launched BOLD in 2018. The fund has already deployed capital into the Indian beauty sector, with recent investments in the brands Deconstruct and Arata.

The tie-up signals how global beauty players and local retail champions now view early-stage Indian brands as a joint pipeline rather than acquisition targets alone. Expect the partnership to shape which founders in India's beauty and personal care segment gain access to capital, shelf space and product expertise over the coming cycle.