SEPHORA launches Accelerate Program for Beauty Startups

Beauty retailer, Sephora, wants to help YOU launch your beauty brand!

Sephora  recently launched their Accelerate Program to help female beauty entrepreneurs turn their beauty goals into beauty reality. In this program, beauty business owners can apply for one of 10 spots in the program. The chosen 10 beauty founders will attend a one-week bootcamp at Sephora’s San Francisco headquarters as part of a year long program to  help them build their business  and ultimately present to potential investors.

(Source: Sephora)

The 10 chosen startups will each receive $2,500 and an all-expenses paid trip to Sephora’s SF bootcamp and events, and more importantly gain the opportunity to build relationships with beauty industry leaders and experts.

With the startup landscape mostly dominated by male-led and male-funded companies, Sephora aims to bridge the gap between female mentors and budding female entrepreneurs in the beauty biz.

“Even in the beauty industry, where most customers are women, female founders are still underrepresented,” says Corrie Conrad, head of social impact at Sephora. “We see a unique opportunity to draw from our history of working with entrepreneurs to build a supportive community for early-stage female founders.”

Sephora hopes that by 2020, the Accelerate program will have supported 50 female-led beauty businesses through their bootcamps, mentorship, and small loans.

According to Sephora’s press release, “Sephora Accelerate is an initiative of Sephora Stands, our Social Impact programming. As a result, we are interested in entrepreneurs with a shared passion for beauty and Social Impact. At Sephora, Social Impact reflects our commitment to using our strengths to make the world a more beautiful place. A business could reflect this commitment through environment friendly actions, sourcing raw materials sustainably, donating a portion of proceeds to charity, or any number of other creative ways.”

(Source: Sephora)

In addition, Sephora is also launching 2 other initiatives: Classes for Confidence and Sephora Stands Together. Launching in April 2016, Classes for Confidence is a series of specialized in-store complimentary classes to help inspire confidence in women facing major life transitions. Currently piloted in six states, the program has already benefited local women re-entering the workforce, and those in transitional housing and shelter programs. Sephora Stands Together is a new, philanthropic fund which provides short-term assistance to Sephora employees facing financial hardship caused by natural disaster, family emergency, and other unexpected events.

Though Sephora officially announced the program on Tuesday, it took applications until Dec. 31 and will select its class of participants by March. Boot camp begins in April in preparation for Demo Day in August.

Though Sephora officially announced the program on Tuesday, it took applications until Dec. 31 and will select its class of participants by March. Boot camp begins in April in preparation for Demo Day in August.

We’re keeping our eyes opened for the 10 finalists announced on March 25th. #GirlBoss meets #Goals!

For more details on Sephora Stands, click here