L’Oréal becomes founding investor in sustainable material developer, Geno

Beauty giant L’Oréal has become the final founding investor in Genomatica (Geno), a manufacturer of sustainable materials, joining the likes of Unilever and Kao Corporation in backing the venture.

L’Oréal’s presence will bring the group’s collective member revenue to over 100 billion dollars as it also accesses a wide range of products for consumers.

Geno itself develops, produces and commercialises biotechnology-based alternatives to ingredients in the formulas of everyday cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products.

By onboarding large-scale members, the firm hopes to meet the growing demand for sustainable ingredients using its tech to improve the environmental profile of popular products and create more traceable supply chains.

For L’Oréal products, Geno will utilise its biotechnology platform to ferment plant sugars that produce ingredients to make sustainable surfactants, allowing the beauty conglomerate to move towards its goal of offering 100 percent eco-designed formulas.

In a release, Christophe Schilling, CEO for Geno, said: “L’Oréal’s commitment further validates Geno’s ability to deliver at scale and accelerates our journey toward reducing global carbon emissions by over 100 million tons in the upcoming years by targeting large-scale material markets.

“This partnership will further catapult our venture’s mission to the global scale required to meet strong market demand for sustainable products.”