L'Oréal x HEC Paris
In partnership with L'Oréal Groupe, the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute and its Incubation & Acceleration Center is pleased to present 3 panels during Vivatech at L'Oréal booth:
Panel 1: Scaling With Startups
Hosted by L’Oréal & HEC Paris
🗓 Date: Wednesday, June 11
🕞 Time: 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
📍 L’Oréal Booth – VivaTech 2025, Hall 1 (F37)
How can global corporations and tech startups build win-win collaborations that scale innovation?
Join us for a dynamic discussion exploring how L’Oréal, HEC Paris Incubation & Acceleration Center, and the startup Reelevant joined forces to deliver AI-driven personalization across multiple brands—and what it takes to make such partnerships thrive.
From the perspectives of business innovation, startup entrepreneurship, and corporate incubation, our expert panel will unpack the keys to successful collaboration, including:
· Building trust and alignment between startups and corporates
· Balancing agility with structure: how to manage different speeds and culture
· Identifying scalable tech that fits business strategy
· Turning pilots into full-scale deployments
With:
🎤 Adonis – Director, L’Oréal Beauty Tech Atelier at Station F
Corporate lens: how L’Oréal structures engagement with startups, and what success looks like in open innovation.
🎤 Vincent Martinet – Founder & CEO, Reelevant
Startup lens: how a young AI-driven company scaled across L’Oréal brands by fostering open dialogue, championing use cases, and co-building the roadmap.
🎤 Mathias Abramovich – Pedagogic Director, HEC Paris Incubation & Acceleration Center
Ecosystem expert lens: what data and fieldwork reveal about startup-corporate collaboration models that deliver long-term value.
Come discover what happens when strategic vision meets entrepreneurial speed—and how to scale with startups.
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Panel 2: Engaging Startups Early – Why Corporates Should Bet on Bold Ideas
Hosted by L’Oréal & HEC Paris
🗓 Date: Thursday, June 12
🕞 Time: 3:30 PM – 4:00 PM
📍 Location: L’Oréal Booth – VivaTech 2025, Hall 1 (F37)
How can large corporations engage with early-stage startups without overwhelming their agility—and why does it matter?
In this panel, we explore how L’Oréal and HEC Paris support promising startups from their earliest days, helping ventures like HerThirdPlace validate their ideas, refine product-market fit, and build momentum. This isn’t about scaling what’s already proven—it’s about co-navigating uncertainty, seeding innovation, and building meaningful relationships from day one.
From the perspectives of corporate strategy, early-stage entrepreneurship, and startup program design, this conversation dives into:
· How corporates can spot, nurture, and co-develop with pre-seed and seed-stage ventures
· The value of validation, guidance, and low-friction engagement for young startups
· Building trust and patience in collaborations where learning comes before scaling
· Creating startup-friendly frameworks that balance flexibility with business goals
Panelists:
🎤 Adonis – Director, L’Oréal Beauty Tech Atelier at Station F
Corporate viewpoint: Why L’Oréal chooses to engage early and how it designs flexible engagement models that support young, bold startups with long-term potential.
🎤 Idir Boussad – Co-Founder, HerThirdPlace
Startup lens: What early-stage founders need from corporates—and how clear boundaries, trusted allies, and timely insights can unlock crucial pivots and product validation.
🎤 Alexandra Najdanovic – Program Manager, HEC Paris Incubation & Acceleration Center (L’Oréal Beauty Tech Atelier)
Innovation ecosystem lens: Why early-stage partnerships matter, and how HEC Paris helps both startups and corporates speak the same language and grow together.
Join us to discover what it takes to collaborate at the edge of innovation—and why betting on early-stage ventures could be your next competitive advantage.
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Panel: AI for Good – How Open Innovation Unlocks New Opportunities
Hosted by L’Oréal & HEC Paris
🗓 Date: Friday, June 13
🕙 Time: 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM
📍 Location: L’Oréal Booth – VivaTech 2025, Hall 1
Can AI developed outside the beauty sector spark meaningful innovation within it?
In this panel, discover how L’Oréal and MatchTune, a music-tech startup, co-created a new use case that applies AI-driven audio personalization to beauty retail—proving that true innovation often happens at the intersections of industries.
Through the lens of this unlikely collaboration, we’ll explore how open innovation and cross-sector partnerships lead to unexpected breakthroughs. HEC Paris played a key role in structuring the collaboration, guiding the opportunity framing and ensuring strategic fit.
This session will cover:
· How corporates can spot innovation opportunities beyond their core industry
· Turning "outsider" tech into tailored solutions through creative exploration
· The critical role of experts and ecosystem players in framing innovation pathways
· Why AI for Good is not just a slogan—but a strategy for real impact