L'Oréal has made a minority investment in biotechnology company Debut to meet growing demand for new ingredients used in cosmetics, skincare and packaging.

Debut says its cell-free biomanufacturing platform takes direct control of biological processes to produce complex natural products like polyphenols, biopolymers, and natural colours – which can be used in anti-aging products – with manufacturing time for ingredients reduced to around six weeks.

The investment, which builds on an existing partnership between L'Oréal and Debut, is aimed at enabling the skincare and cosmetics company to bring sustainable ingredients to the market at a faster pace.

The size of the investment, made by L'Oréal’s venture capital fund BOLD, was not disclosed.

Barbara Lavernos, deputy chief executive in charge of research, innovation and technology, at L’Oréal, said that the investment would help drive innovation at the company.

“Cell-free biomanufacturing is not science fiction: it is here,” she said. "We could not be more excited to be the first beauty company to invest into this technology with Debut. We are delighted of our partnership with Debut to create together stand-out active beauty innovations while protecting the planet’s resources.”

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