12.06.22
Sephora North America has announced the participants for its 2023 Accelerate brand incubator program, with a cohort of seven BIPOC brand founders spanning fragrance, makeup, and skincare. (Revisit last year’s cohort here).
Now in its eighth year, the Sephora Accelerate program continues to build a community of innovative, inspirational brand founders in the beauty space, and creates a foundation, network, and ecosystem for brands to launch and thrive. The program features a 360-degree, six-month curriculum with mentorship, merchandising support, grants, and investor connections to all participants, with the opportunity to launch at Sephora North America upon completion.
"We are very excited to welcome all 2023 finalists to the Accelerate program and into the Sephora family," said Priya Venkatesh, senior vice president, Global Merchandising. "Our program continues to create spaces for BIPOC-founded and owned brands that represent our clients and the world today, all while providing meaningful support for growing brands to succeed."
This year's program aims to prepare BIPOC-founded beauty brands to launch at Sephora North America via bespoke support from those in the retailer's ecosystem of beauty entrepreneurs and experts. With a focus on building community and collaboration across the beauty industry, the program features six months of weekly content and curriculum dedicated to elevating the brands and positioning them for long-term success, with programming such as Nancy Twine's (Briogeo) Financial Readiness Series; Vicky Tsai’s (Tatcha) Brand + Assortment Strategy Sessions; and Marketing Sessions with Amy Liu (Tower 28).
In addition to the support the founders received over the last two years in the form of merchant sponsorship and partners both internal and external, the 2023 Accelerate class will also be offered an advisory team inclusive of beauty industry partners, founders from within the Sephora portfolio and financial professionals.
In its 2nd year of partnership with Sephora, beauty branding agency School House will continue to bring individualized brand workshops and strategy to the program focusing on providing a bespoke approach to each Accelerate founder. With brand differentiation core to Sephora’s DNA and critical for brand success, Sephora aims to help each brand better define its distinct viewpoint and position in the market by access to School House’s experts.
Now in its eighth year, the Sephora Accelerate program continues to build a community of innovative, inspirational brand founders in the beauty space, and creates a foundation, network, and ecosystem for brands to launch and thrive. The program features a 360-degree, six-month curriculum with mentorship, merchandising support, grants, and investor connections to all participants, with the opportunity to launch at Sephora North America upon completion.
"We are very excited to welcome all 2023 finalists to the Accelerate program and into the Sephora family," said Priya Venkatesh, senior vice president, Global Merchandising. "Our program continues to create spaces for BIPOC-founded and owned brands that represent our clients and the world today, all while providing meaningful support for growing brands to succeed."
Meet the 2023 Sephora Accelerate Cohort
The 2023 cohort includes:- Brianna Arps, Moodeaux - Designed around the connection between scent, memory, and emotion, MOODEAUX's line of clean fragrances turns accessorizing your mood into mindful self-care and luxury into a lifestyle.
- Malaika Jones, Tai Beauchamp, Nia Jones – BROWN GIRL Jane is a wellness-first multicultural beauty and health brand focused on solution-oriented, innovative products that boost mood and reduce the appearance and feeling of stress.
- Alicia Scott, Range Beauty - Range Beauty is plant-powered makeup that targets uneven tones and soothes irritated skin for melanin-rich women affected by acne and eczema.
- Sienna Brown, Glosshood – Glosshood is a beauty brand with a specialty in providing niche goods that honor your inner child.
- Camille Martin, Seaspire Skincare – Seaspire is disrupting the skincare industry with new ingredients that are safer for humans and more sustainable for our environment.
- Karen Young, OUI the People - OUI the People is a treatment-driven bodycare brand that is redefining the culture of beauty through a lens of inclusivity.
- Simedar Jackson, Of Other Worlds - Of Other Worlds is a clinically conscious, culturally-inclusive beauty brand that straddles the line between clean and clinical to develop skincare that doesn't compromise on effectiveness or alienate our community.
This year's program aims to prepare BIPOC-founded beauty brands to launch at Sephora North America via bespoke support from those in the retailer's ecosystem of beauty entrepreneurs and experts. With a focus on building community and collaboration across the beauty industry, the program features six months of weekly content and curriculum dedicated to elevating the brands and positioning them for long-term success, with programming such as Nancy Twine's (Briogeo) Financial Readiness Series; Vicky Tsai’s (Tatcha) Brand + Assortment Strategy Sessions; and Marketing Sessions with Amy Liu (Tower 28).
In addition to the support the founders received over the last two years in the form of merchant sponsorship and partners both internal and external, the 2023 Accelerate class will also be offered an advisory team inclusive of beauty industry partners, founders from within the Sephora portfolio and financial professionals.
In its 2nd year of partnership with Sephora, beauty branding agency School House will continue to bring individualized brand workshops and strategy to the program focusing on providing a bespoke approach to each Accelerate founder. With brand differentiation core to Sephora’s DNA and critical for brand success, Sephora aims to help each brand better define its distinct viewpoint and position in the market by access to School House’s experts.