ELC and NYKAA announce winners of the Second Edition of BEAUTY & YOU India

BusinessWire India

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 8: The Estee Lauder Companies (ELC) and NYKAA, one of India's leading omnichannel beauty and lifestyle retailers, announce the winners of the 2023 BEAUTY & YOU Awards in India. Created by ELC's New Incubation Ventures (NIV) and launched in partnership with NYKAA, BEAUTY & YOU India is an awards program launched in July 2022, with an aim to discover, spotlight, and propel the next generation of Indian-focused beauty founders, innovators, and creatives.

The twenty-seven finalists presented to a jury of leading industry experts including Katrina Kaif, Actor and Co-Founder, Kay Beauty; Bhumi Pednekar, Actor, Investor, Climate Warrior & UNDP Ambassador; Prudvi Kaka, Chief Scientific Officer, DECIEM; Deepica Mutyala, Founder & CEO, Live Tinted; Gaurav Gupta, Couturier, Artist & Designer; Masaba Gupta, Designer, Actor & Founder, HOUSE OF MASABA and LOVECHILD BY MASABA; Anaita Shroff Adajania, CEO, Style Cell; as well as leaders from ELC, NYKAA, Intercos, and Peak XV Partners. The finalists represent a variety of concepts ranging from breakthrough product innovation to re-imagining fragrance and skin care rituals.

The winners, listed below, were announced at an awards evening at Snowball Studios, Mumbai, on November 2, 2023. Winners for the Breakthrough, Create, Grow, Imagine, and Impact categories were independently chosen by the panel of judges through a competitive judging process. Winners for the Community category were determined via an independent voting process on www.beautyandyouawards.com and an analysis of social engagement.

BREAKTHROUGH Category: $50,000 Prize for Innovation in Active Ingredients that Address Key Areas for the Indian Consumer

* Biome Laboratories

* Rhea Goenka, Founder

* Biome Laboratories is a purpose-driven skin care company championing Indian skin inclusivity led by scientist Rhea Goenka Jalan with a firm belief that biology is the most advanced technology on the planet.

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biomelaboratories/

* Keva Fragrances, Flavours & Aroma Ingredients

* Kedar Vaze, CEO and Director, and Dr. Avani Mainkar, Chief Scientific Officer

* S H Kelkar & Co (Keva) is a manufacturer of industrial perfumes and one of India's largest fragrance companies with an ever-expanding global presence into natural actives for cosmetics.

* Website: https://keva.co.in

COMMUNITY: USD 10,000 Prize for The Best Community Engagement and Support

* Beautywise

* Anousha Chauhan and Shreyansh Chauhan, Founders

* Beautywise is a dermatology-led supplement brand with the mission to empower everyone to embrace their unique beauty by incorporating sustainable, evidence-based solutions that work from within.

* Website: https://beautywise.in

* Havah

* Giti Datt, Founder

* Havah draws from India's rich heritage of perfumery, art, and philosophy to develop a unique perspective on the power of fragrance in contemporary life.

* Instagram: @gitidatt

CREATE Category: USD 50,000 Prize for The Next Generation of Creative Talent Submitting Work Around the Theme of 'Experiential Beauty in India'

* Priya Minhas, Director

* Priya is a London-born Creative Director with over eight years of experience in artist development, directing, and content production. Her film concept called "Honey & Mud" is a short film that explores the relationship between perfume, memory and identity through individual stories.

* Instagram @pri_diddy

GROW Category: USD 150,000 Prize for In-Market Businesses

* Call of the Valley

* Jean-Christophe Bonnafous, Founder

* After a decade-long career as flutist and disciple of the revered classical flutist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Jean-Christophe Bonnafous launched the Mumbai-based perfumery Call of the Valley in 2019 with a vision to bring single-ingredient simplicity back to beauty and highlight traditional Indian wellness practices and the centuries-old art of Indian perfumery on a global stage.

* Website: https://callofthevalley.co.in

IMAGINE Category: USD 75,000 Prize for Pre-Launch Concepts

* Baboski

* Hetali Kamdar, Founder

* BABOSKI is a luxury bath and body brand with products that are meticulously crafted using top-tier ingredients, including natural extracts and a proprietary EncapShield SPF technology.

* Instagram: @baboski.official

IMPACT: USD 50,000 Prize for The Most Innovative Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programming

* Sohrai

* Khanak Gupta and Rupesh Pawar, Co-Founders

* Sohrai is a revolutionary beauty brand that transcends skincare, ignites change, and enriches lives.

* Instagram: @sohraibeauty

* C16 Biosciences

* Shara Ticku, CEO and Co-Founder

* Shara Ticku is the CEO and Co-Founder of C16 Biosciences, the makers of Palmless™: the platform for sustainable palm oil alternatives. C16's proprietary technology platform uses biomanufacturing to create next-generation ingredients and materials that successfully address global ESG challenges--including climate change, food security, the environmental and safety impacts of natural resource extraction, and more.

* Website: https://www.c16bio.com

"This year's winners represent an exciting mix of entrepreneurs, creative visionaries, innovative scientists, and impact-focused founders -- a true representation of the larger beauty ecosystem with the qualities required for long-term success," said Shana Randhava, Senior Vice President, NIV, The Estee Lauder Companies. "We are excited about the opportunity to mentor and provide support to the winners so they can share their vision with a broader, more global community."

"This year's BEAUTY & YOU award winners represent the best in innovative, consumer-first thinking that India has to offer, and we are thrilled to support the founders on their journey of building high quality brands for the Indian consumer," said Anchit Nayar, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Beauty, NYKAA. "At NYKAA, incubating the next generation of beauty entrepreneurs is central to our mission of democratizing access to beauty for all and we are proud to have a partner like The Estee Lauder Companies with whom to achieve this objective."

With over 600 entries from 150 cities, the 2023 application pool included a multitude of beauty brands across categories - skin care, hair care, fragrance, and color cosmetics. Brand, product, marketing, and investment experts from ELC and NYKAA reviewed the entire application pool and shortlisted the ten most promising brands and ideas before selecting winners. The award winners will benefit from access to ELC and NYKAA relationships and expertise across the beauty ecosystem, nurturing emerging ideas that amplify Indian voices and address unmet consumer needs. Among other resources, BEAUTY & YOU India will provide winners with financial support, continued mentorship, increased awareness, and distribution support.

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