L'Oreal USA Announces 2014 NEXT Generation Award Winners

NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- L'Oreal USA Women in Digital (WID), a program that recruits, supports and promotes female entrepreneurs in technology, today announced the three new companies that have been selected as winners of its 2014 NEXT Generation Awards. The winners – GLAMSQUAD, Jibo and Shareablee – will be honored tonight at an event in New York City hosted by accomplished athlete, fashion pioneer, actress and L'Oreal Paris spokeswoman Aimee Mullins, to celebrate both established and up-and-coming female leaders in technology.

"Each year we build upon the successes of years past, finding new ways to enhance the program and expand the reach and resources we provide to female entrepreneurs," said Rachel Weiss, VP of Digital Innovation at L'Oreal USA and chair of L'Oreal USA Women in Digital. "This year's winners are among the best and brightest women in technology, with forward-thinking products that have the power to transform the way consumers interact with the beauty industry."

The L'Oreal USA Women in Digital NEXT Generation Awards are given to three female-founded companies considered game-changers in the technology space that have created innovative business solutions that underscore the needs of the modern day connected consumer. The winners were selected by L'Oreal executives, partners and an advisory board of female leaders in technology that include Arianna Huffington, Chair, President and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, Joanne Bradford, Head of Partnerships at Pinterest, Alexia Tsotsis, Co-editor of TechCrunch, and Padmasree Warrior, Chief Technology and Strategy Officer of Cisco Systems.

Once selected to join the Women in Digital program, the winners are provided with the opportunity to launch and scale new technologies with L'Oreal brands. In partnership with L'Oreal's NEXT fund, a program to foster go-to-market experimentation across L'Oreal USA, L'Oreal's brands will compete internally for the opportunity to work with these top entrepreneurs on their coveted pilots.

As a way to provide mentorship and act as a springboard for these young companies to launch and grow, L'Oreal also grants these entrepreneurs with access to its advisory board, network of venture capitalists and top executives.

2014 NEXT GENERATION AWARD WINNERS:

• GLAMSQUAD – Victoria Eisner, co-founder and chief creative officer: GLAMSQUAD is an app-based beauty provider that delivers professional beauty services to the home or office in as little as an hour's notice.
• Jibo Inc. – Cynthia Breazeal, founder: Created by Cynthia Breazeal, a pioneer of social robotics and human robot interaction from the MIT Media Lab, Jibo is the world's first family robot that brings intelligence and helpfulness with heart to the connected home.
• Shareablee – Tania Yuki, founder and CEO: Launched in 2013, Shareablee Inc. is the leading authority on audience intelligence, competitive benchmarking and actionable insights for social media. The official social media analytics partner of comScore, Shareablee measures a census of global properties and collects brand audience and engagement data across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Tumblr, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest.

As part of this year's Women in Digital program, L'Oreal is proud to offer one full scholarship, valued at $15,000, for a woman to learn to code at Hackbright Academy in San Francisco.  The first software engineering school created exclusively for women, Hackbright Academy is committed to providing students with a practical skill set and connecting them with the industry relationships they need to succeed. The L'Oreal scholarship recipient will be selected from a class of 40 students admitted to the program for the winter 2015 term.

"As the world's largest beauty company, L'Oreal has the opportunity to put women at the center of our innovation efforts, driving female entrepreneurs to innovate and push the boundaries of knowledge to become leaders in the digital arena," added Weiss.  "As our Women in Digital program continues to grow, so will its reach and ability to shift society's mindset around women in technology."

Previous NEXT Generation Award winners and honorees include: Heather Marie of Shoppable (r) , whose patent-pending proprietary technology allows digital media sites and mobile applications to sell third party products using a universal checkout, is now developing an ecommerce platform across all of L'Oreal's brands;  Melody McCloskey of StyleSeat, whose online marketplace for stylists and beauty professionals to connect with clients has already raised $14 million in funding , recently partnered with L'Oreal's Professional Product division to bring their entire network of salon owners and stylists on board; and Kelsey Falter of Poptip piloted her social media data analysis technology with L'Oreal and quickly signed on brands among the likes of Yoplait, NFL, Spotify and Budweiser, before being acquired by Palantir, a big data company that's valued at $9 billion.

For more information, please visit http://lorealwomenindigital.com.

L'OREAL USA Women in Digital Program
L'Oreal USA Women in Digital was created to cultivate a strong network and pipeline of female-run companies that can address the evolving needs of the beauty consumer through groundbreaking ideas, technologies and content. The program promotes, supports and recruits female entrepreneurs, providing them with the opportunity to launch and scale digital innovations with L'Oreal brands. The annual WID NEXT Generation Awards are given to three female-founded companies that are considered game-changers, and have created innovative business solutions that underscore the needs of the modern day connected consumer, ranging from ecommerce, mobile, customer acquisition and big data, to wearables and 3D printing. Collaboration with an industry leader like L'Oreal – the third largest advertiser in the world – gives these companies the opportunity to apply their technology within the context of the beauty industry and gain access to decision-makers and business leaders at L'Oreal and across the technology sector.

L'OREAL USA
L'Oreal USA is the largest subsidiary of the L'Oreal Group, the worldwide leader in beauty. L'Oreal USA manages a portfolio of 28 iconic global beauty brands, including Clarisonic, Essie Cosmetics, Garnier, Giorgio Armani Beauty, Kerastase, Kiehl's, Lancome, L'Oreal Paris, Maybelline New York, Redken, Soft-Sheen Carson, Urban Decay and Yves Saint Laurent Beaute. In addition to corporate headquarters in New York City, L'Oreal USA has Research & Innovation and Manufacturing & Distribution facilities across six other states including Arkansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and Washington with a workforce of more than 10,000 employees. For more information, visit www.LorealUSA.com or follow on Twitter @LOrealUSA.

L'OREAL USA Women in Digital
http://lorealwomenindigital.com 
http://twitter.com/lorealwid

SOURCE L'Oreal USA