Fondation L'Oréal

Name

Fondation L'Oréal

Legal name

Fondation d'entreprise L'Oréal

Website

https://fondationloreal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Corporate Foundation Funding: The Fondation L'Oréal is funded by L'Oréal Group as its corporate foundation. Established in 2007, it receives ongoing financial support from the parent company to fund its For Women in Science and Beauty for a Better Life programs worldwide.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Fondation L'Oréal is a nonprofit corporate foundation that runs two flagship program pillars: For Women in Science (awarding research endowments to women scientists through the L'Oréal-UNESCO partnership across 140+ countries) and Beauty for a Better Life (delivering free beauty and wellness treatments and vocational beauty training to vulnerable women in 21 countries). All programs are provided free of charge to individual beneficiaries.

Product overview

Fondation L'Oréal operates two main programmatic pillars: scientific research support through the 'For Women in Science' program (featuring International Awards, National/Regional Programs, For Girls in Science, and International Rising Talents), and inclusive beauty services through 'Beauty for a Better Life' (offering fixed and mobile beauty salons, vocational training, and emergency assistance). The foundation acts as a grant-making and service organization, not a software product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• For Women in Science Program Flagship philanthropic program that recognizes, rewards, and supports outstanding female researchers through awards, research endowments, mentoring, and networking across 140+ countries.
• L'Oréal-UNESCO International Awards for Women in Science Annual awards recognizing exceptional female scientists across disciplines, providing €100,000 research endowments to 5 international laureates per year.
• L'Oréal-UNESCO National and Regional Young Talents Programs Localized Young Talents programs operating in 50 countries with approximately 260 endowments per year at PhD and post-doctoral levels (€10,000–€20,000).
• For Girls in Science Program to inspire and encourage young girls (from age 6+) to pursue scientific careers, breaking stereotypes and exposing them to female role models.
• International Rising Talents Program Supplementary grant program supporting early-career female researchers with funding and international visibility.
• Beauty for a Better Life Inclusive beauty program providing free aesthetic care, wellness treatments, and professional beauty training to help vulnerable women regain confidence and achieve social/economic integration.
• Beauty and Wellness Treatments Free professional beauty and wellness treatments delivered by socio-aestheticians and socio-hairdressers to vulnerable women through hospitals, social organizations, beauty salons, and mobile units.
• Vocational Beauty Training Free vocational training in hairdressing, make-up, manicure and beauty advice delivered through 46 NGO partners and 329 centers across 21 countries, supporting employment or entrepreneurship in the beauty sector.
• Emergency Assistance Grants Targeted humanitarian grants (€50,000–€250,000) disbursed to NGOs such as UNICEF, French Red Cross, and Habitat for Humanity to support famine, natural-disaster, and conflict-related relief efforts.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4,700+ women researchers supported from 140+ countries since 1998
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• UNESCOflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1998Since 1998, L'Oréal (and the Fondation L'Oréal since 2007) has partnered with UNESCO on the For Women in Science program. This is the longest-running private-sector partnership for advancing women in science globally. The partnership operates international awards, national/regional young talent programs, and the For Girls in Science initiative across 140+ countries.
• Emmaüs SolidaritécoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with Emmaüs Solidarité for beauty and wellness treatments at shelters and day centers in Paris. In 2021, launched the first Beauty for a Better Life Salon in Paris in partnership with Emmaüs Solidarité, providing free treatments and a donation area with beauty products.
• Rose-UpcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Rose-Up charity offering free beauty and wellness treatments at Rose-Up centers in Bordeaux and Paris for women during and after cancer treatment.
• Institut Mutualiste MontsourisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMedical institution partnership for delivering beauty and wellness treatments to patients, including troubled young women through the Maison des Adolescents.
• Sambhav FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner since 2014, Sambhav Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to social justice and empowering vulnerable populations in India. Provides infrastructure, education, and livelihood opportunities, mentoring individuals to become entrepreneurs managing beauty businesses or micro-enterprises.
• Naandi FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership started in 2024 with one of India's largest multi-sector non-profits focused on poverty reduction through education, skill development, and youth employment. Supports Beauty for a Better Life training in India.
• Vietnam Red CrosscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership in Vietnam since 2009 for vocational beauty training, working across provinces from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.
• Care (Vietnam)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational NGO partnership for vocational beauty training in Vietnam, supporting young women including single mothers and victims of abuse.
• Enfants et DéveloppementminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNGO partnership for vocational beauty training in Vietnam supporting vulnerable women and children.
• HagarminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNGO partnership for vocational beauty training in Vietnam, supporting victims of trafficking and abuse.
• Saigon Children CharityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNGO partnership for vocational beauty training in Vietnam supporting disadvantaged youth.
• Yen Bai Women's UnionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner in Yen Bai province, Vietnam for vocational beauty training supporting women from ethnic minorities and disadvantaged backgrounds.
• UNICEFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNICEF received €100,000 donation in 2017 for famine relief in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. In 2020, received €100,000 for Beirut explosion relief efforts supporting medical and humanitarian relief, family reunification, and distance learning.
• French Red CrosscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReceived €100,000 in 2017 for Hurricane Irma relief in French Caribbean territories (Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, Guadeloupe). Received €250,000 in 2018 for Greece wildfires relief helping 617 families.
• Habitat for HumanityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReceived €50,000 donation in 2018 for earthquake and tsunami relief in Indonesia (Lombok and Sulawesi), providing shelter and safe water for 400 families.
• Fundación Altius (Spain)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership initiated in 2024 for the first international Beauty for a Better Life Salon opening in Madrid, Spain.
• Les Eaux Vives Emmaüs (Nantes)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in 2024 for the fourth Beauty for a Better Life Salon opening in Nantes, France.
• IPSOScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with IPSOS for international study on sexual harassment in scientific research. Conducted survey of 5,200 scientists from 117 countries in 2023, revealing that 1 in 2 women scientists experienced sexual harassment at work.
• Université de Genève (G-RIRE)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Gender - Intersectional Reports, Educational Relationship (G-RIRE) team at University of Geneva to adapt the Violentometre tool for the research community, classifying situations of violence by degree of severity.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Avon Foundation for Women: Corporate philanthropic arm of a competing global beauty company. Operates women-focused programs (breast cancer, gender-based violence) across many of the same emerging markets Fondation L'Oréal serves, with similar reliance on a beauty-industry parent for funding.
• Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation: Corporate foundation of a major beauty-industry peer. Funds breast-cancer research, education, and environmental causes with a similar structure of parent-funded philanthropy deployed via global subsidiaries.
• Mary Kay Ash Foundation: Corporate foundation of another global beauty company. Funds cancer research and ending domestic violence — both women-focused philanthropic themes that overlap with Fondation L'Oréal's women-empowerment mandate and beauty-industry DNA.

Broad incumbents

• P&G Foundation: Large corporate foundation of a global consumer-products peer. Comparable as a parent-funded, multi-thematic foundation operating at global scale, though its programs span gender equality, sustainability, and crisis response rather than science awards.
• Unilever Foundation: Corporate foundation of a global consumer-goods peer. Comparable in operating as a parent-funded foundation driving inclusion and sustainability programs in emerging markets where Fondation L'Oréal also delivers vocational training.
• Wellcome Trust: One of the world's largest independent scientific philanthropies. Comparable as a long-tenured global funder of women-in-science research, though with substantially larger endowments and a broader biomedical focus.
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Major US science-research funder. Comparable in supporting women and early-career scientists, though with a much larger research-grant footprint and biomedical-only mandate.
• Gates Foundation: Largest private philanthropic foundation globally. Comparable in operating multi-decade global programs for women's empowerment and health with a high-prestige institutional brand, though with vastly greater scale and an independent endowment model.

Emerging players

• Anita Borg Institute (now AnitaB.org): Non-profit focused on advancing women in STEM. Overlaps with Fondation L'Oréal's For Women in Science and For Girls in Science mandates, though operating at smaller scale and with a tech-sector emphasis.

Others

• L'Oréal Group: The foundation's parent company. Not a peer in the competitive sense, but the entity whose global brand, funding, and 140+ country subsidiary network entirely underwrites Fondation L'Oréal's program reach and operating capacity.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/L%E2%80%99Or%C3%A9alFoundation/featured
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/showcase/fondationloreal/posts/?feedView=all
• Xx.com/femmesetscience
• Facebookfacebook.com/pourlesfemmesetlascience.france

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fondation L'Oréal