L’Oréal clears Innovist deal, moving in on India’s digital beauty boom

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved L’Oréal India’s acquisition of Onesto Labs, the parent company of beauty house Innovist. The clearance confirms that the deal, which was first announced in June, is on track to close in the coming months. 

The move comes as India’s beauty industry undergoes rapid growth. It recently passed a US$30 billion valuation and is expected to reach US$34 billion by 2028. Rising disposable incomes, more people living in cities, and the explosive use of e-commerce and quick commerce are credited for the boom.

The Innovist acquisition fits into L’Oréal’s wider plan to grow its business in India. The French beauty giant’s CEO, Nicolas Hieronimus, has called India a strategic market and highlighted the company’s ambitions to more than double its business in the country in the coming years.

L’Oréal’s India arm has operated since 1994 and runs 26 brands, has two factories, and two research centers.

Innovist sells skin care and hair care products through its own websites, e-commerce and quick commerce apps, and beauty retailers across the country. It expands L’Oréal’s local offerings by adding young, science-led brands that sell well online to the conglomerate’s lineup.

Innovist is touted to connect with India’s younger generations of digitally native consumers, who have grown more knowledgeable about what products they use, due to the amount of skin care information that is consumed on the internet. This enhanced formulation knowledge is helping fuel a growing demand for science-backed products, clean formulations, and transparent ingredient lists.

L’Oréal is expanding its footprint in India as the country’s beauty market grows and shifts further online.With L’Oréal’s acquisition plans now greenlit by the CCI, the company gains a trusted local name that already comes with an established online following. The move arrives as the country’s beauty market inches progressively into the digital space.

Build up to the approval

The June announcement said L’Oréal would buy a majority stake in Innovist, with the founders staying on as minority owners. According to local reporting, L’Oréal has also secured the right to buy out those minority shareholders.

The companies have not revealed a price for the agreement, but reports at the time the news broke valued it at around ₹4,000 crore (about US$428 million). The deal was pending regulatory approvals before it could close, now confirmed by the latest development.

In a statement, the CCI has confirmed that “the proposed combination pertains to the acquisition of 100% shareholding in Onesto Labs… by L’Oréal India.”

Innovist was founded in 2019 and owns skin care and beauty labels such as Bare Anatomy, Chemist at Play, SunScoop, and Anecdote. The company’s founding team will remain to run the business, helping L’Oréal keep the start-up’s speed and consumer feel while adding global resources.

“Our investment in this innovative Indian start-up is a clear testament to our unwavering commitment to expanding L’Oréal’s footprint in India,” L’Oréal CEO Hieronimus said in June.

India’s growing e-commerce and quick-commerce sectors are expanding access to beauty brands beyond major cities.“By bringing together the very best of L’Oréal’s global expertise with Innovist’s high-performing, science-led products and deep-rooted understanding of the Indian consumer, I believe we are poised to shape the future of beauty in this dynamic market.”

Betting on online beauty

India’s beauty market is growing fast, and global names are pouring money into it. L’Oréal’s move on Innovist reinforces how much the company seemingly stands to gain from a larger market share in India, and how much scale it sees in the country’s young, digital natives.

Personal Care Insights previously spoke with Innova Market Insights’ project lead for Beauty Personal Care & Household division, who told us that beauty is increasingly moving online in India.

“Local platforms are indispensable when it comes to marketing brand visibility and awareness among the Indian audiences,” she said.

Local online beauty shopping platforms have helped multiple international brands enter the Indian beauty market, such as Fenty Beauty, Amorepacific, APR, and La Roche Posay.

“While brick-and-mortar retail still has significant value, the local platforms can give a faster and wider reach into not just tier one but tier two cities with audiences who are already motivated to explore,” the Innova lead explained.

Innovist does not publicly share its audience or monthly user figures. However, the company crossed the ₹300 crore (over US$36 million) annual revenue mark in FY25. The figure marked a 2.8 times jump from the previous fiscal year.

By 2026, the company’s annual revenue reached approximately ₹1,000 crore (US$104 million), indicating a strengthening beauty customer base spanning millions of repeat and new buyers across the country.

“Innovist has built something truly special here in India, and by joining forces, we look forward to bringing L’Oréal even closer to the new generation of digitally-savvy Indian beauty consumers,” Jacques Lebel, country manager at L’Oréal India, concludes.