Dive Brief:
- Sephora announced Tuesday the participants of the ninth cohort of its accelerate incubator program for brand founders from underrepresented communities, according to a press release.
- The company chose eight beauty brands in the early stages of development: Sienna Naturals, Banuskin, Abi Amé, Indē Wild, Katini Skin, Soft Rows, Maed Beauty and Harlem Perfume Co.
- The 2024 participants in the mentorship program cover the hair care, makeup, skin care and fragrance categories. This year the program received more than 800 applicants, a record for the company, per the announcement.
Dive Insight:
The Sephora Accelerate program consists of a six-month curriculum for beauty businesses that provides merchandising support, grants and investor connections with an opportunity to launch in Sephora’s North America stores once completed.
“Accelerate continues to serve as a vehicle for discovering, cultivating, and even launching these amazing brands that represent so many of our clients and the world today, while providing meaningful support for growing brands to continue to succeed well beyond the program’s completion,” Senior Director of Merchandising, Strategy and Business Development at Sephora Kristin Odegaard said in a statement.
This year the cohort includes: Hannah Diop of Sienna Naturals, a textured, clean hair care brand co-created with actress Issa Rae; Roz Samimi of Banuskin, an acne-focused skin care brand; Yasmin Zeinab of Abi Amé, a French body skin care brand; Diipa Buller-Khosla of Indē Wild an Ayurvedic natural beauty brand; Katini Yamaoka of Katini Skin, a facial oil brand with ingredients from the founder’s cultural heritage across Africa, Japan, and Australia; Teri Johnson of Harlem Perfume Co., a luxury fine fragrance brand inspired Harlem and jazz music; Denise Vasi of Maed Beauty, a lip care brand and Quani Burnett of Soft Rows another textured, clean hair care brand.
Founders and executives in the beauty industry are set to lead various sessions for its participants. Nancy Twine, founder and CEO of Briogeo will conduct a session on financial readiness and Tatcha co-founder Vicky Tsai will focus on assortment strategy. Additionally, co-CEO’s and co-founders Christine Chang and Sarah Lee of Glow Recipe will lead a session on social media and community. Tower 28 CEO and founder Amy Liu will conduct marketing sessions for the cohort.
The 2024 class will also have access to one-on-one personalized consulting with Front Row and Clarity Media. Each business will receive an advisory team of beauty industry partners, financial professionals and founders from Sephora’s portfolio such as Youth to the People, First Aid Beauty and Urban Decay.
Sephora also conducts a content creator incubator program in partnership with TikTok, the two announced in March. The partnership pairs creators with 12 participating brands from the Sephora Accelerate program.
Incubator programs intended for new beauty business leaders from underrepresented communities is an initiative done by other beauty companies. Ulta Beauty runs its 10-week MUSE Accelerator program consisting of training, mentorship and $50,000 for selected participants. Glossier also conducts a grant program for Black-owned businesses with financial support, mentorship, business programming and one-on-one meetings with its CEO.
