Sephora Australia launches its second year of the annual Accelerate Program supporting female entrepreneurs. Applications close 30th November, 2019.
Sephora Australia announced its participation in the global Sephora Accelerate program now in its 5th year on the world stage. The month-long global initiative produces one local female beauty entrepreneur winner who is invited in to exclusive access to an incubator-like business program across business mentoring and social consciousness.
The 2019/20 applications and selections will focus on three main categories within beauty:
- Merchandising (product)
- Technology (digital, retail tech and apps)
- Sustainability (green packaging, biodegradable)
All businesses are required to demonstrate an underlying theme of social impact.
With applications now open, candidates from the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, France, China, Singapore…and of course, Australia will be chosen to join the program.
Australian winners in 2018/19
Maeva Heim, Founder, Bread Beauty Supply (Australia)
Bread Beauty Supply is a haircare brand that is determined to better serve young women of colour with naturally curly and coily hair. Bread speaks to the Millennial and Gen Z audience, providing easy to understand products and hair routine kits for ‘naturals’ (non-chemically relaxed hair).
Pip Summerville, Founder, The Tonik (Australia)
The Tonik is a natural supplements brand bringing the convenience and benefits of natural health to the market via a fun approach. The brand believes that wellness comes from within, and that when you feel good you love yourself and love the skin you’re in. It wants to make healthy fun, convenient and sustainable.
It all starts in San Fran
Initiation begins with a week-long, expenses paid ‘boot camp’ in San Francisco. The schedule includes business structuring, market analysis, growth plans and funding strategies.
Following this week each founder will learn to tackle business challenges and growth tactics through six months of one-on-one mentoring, being paired with beauty industry leaders, Start-Up experts or Sephora Senior employees, alongside Sephora’s cross-functional teams, including strategy, digital, social media and marketing.
The program concludes with a second trip to San Francisco for Demo Day, a pitch presentation day where the entrepreneurs will present their company to industry experts, potential venture partners and key Sephora stakeholders for the opportunity to take their businesses to the next level.
In addition to the two all-expense paid trips to San Francisco, all founders will receive a monetary grant of $5,000USD with the potential to unlock additional funding and grants; however this isn’t what the program is all about. “We’re interested in building an ecosystem of support for these women,” said Corrie Conrad, VP of social impact and sustainability at Sephora USA. “The community focus is really important for us. This isn’t a competition and there is no winner at the end; that’s been an intentional and guiding theme as we build our annual cohort.”
Applications are now open, closing 6th December 2019 with the final global cohort to be announced on 8th March 2020 to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Apply now: https://www.f6s.com/sephoraaccelerate2020
Program info: www.sephorastands.com/accelerate/
About Sephora Accelerate
Accelerate, part of the wider Sephora Stands Program, aims to use the strengths of the business and people the women within it for the greater good of the beauty community; so, in 2016 Sephora pledged to support 50 women-led ventures by 2020. Three years into the program, Sephora is more than halfway there, with 45 entrepreneurs joining the Sephora Accelerate cohort, a supportive community for women in the early stages of developing their business.