• The Demo Day featured the four selected  tech start-ups who showcased their cutting edge retail-tech solutions to enhance  L’Occitane’s omnichannel experience
  • Attendees had the opportunity to fully immerse themselves testing each of the startups’ innovative tech-solutions

UAE, Dubai, 22 June 2023: L’Occitane ME and Chalhoub Group hosted the Demo Day for their first retail-tech Accelerator Programme, powered by The Greenhouse, Chalhoub Group’s space for innovation and entrepreneurship. The Demo Day took place at The Greenhouse in Dubai Design District where the four retail-tech start-ups demonstrated their proof-of-concepts to Chalhoub Group’s groupwide key stakeholders, key executives from L’Occitane ME and The Greenhouse, as well as the startups’ new prospective clients. 

The four global retail-tech startups have  come from different areas of expertise in the retail, tech, luxury and beauty industries. By assigning the startups to  dedicated taskforce leads within L’Occitane ME and the Greenhouse, the startups received the necessary guidance, advice and resources to develop new edge retail-tech solutions that will enhance the region’s ever-evolving and rapidly growing luxury retail sector.

The selected retail-tech startups are Momenti from South Korea and New York, a next-generation content platform creating hyper-realistic gesture-interactive-videos(GIVs), Confer With from the United Kingdom, which specializes in innovative one to one live video commerce solutions; Emperia from the United Kingdom and United States, a virtual reality store platform creating immersive and sensorial experiences for brands and customers; and Sleekflow from Hong Kong, which focuses on creating 360-degree omnichannel customer journeys and messaging for retailers and customers.

Joaquin Mencia, Chief Innovation Officer at Chalhoub Group commented: “Empowering the start-up ecosystem is a priority for us at Chalhoub Group, and we are confident that our L’Occitane retail-tech accelerator programme will ultimately enhance the brand’s omni-channel journey and personalised experiences, data-driven decision making and elevate its regional brand relevance and Gen-Z attraction.”

Joseph Kedemos, Managing Director at L’Occitane ME stated: “We are very proud to have brought together the world’s most innovative minds for our accelerator programme and work together with these talented startups who today have showcased an impressive range of tech-focused solutions that will bring about a new era of retail for the L’Occitane MENA brand.”

The four retail-tech startups were selected following the brand’s call for applications , with over 180 applications received from across the globe and over 50 startups were interviewed. After successfully implementing and testing their proof-of-concepts with L’Occitane ME, the four winning retail-tech startups will each have the opportunity to potentially sign a commercial deal with the brand to continue their journey of making a real difference in the regional retail sector.