L’Oréal’s corporate venture capital fund BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development) announces a minority investment in US-based startup Digital Village, a metaverse-as-a-service platform and NFT marketplace for brands, creators, and communities.
This move marks the first venture capital investment by L’Oréal in the metaverse & Web3 space. This investment is also the first made by BOLD’s Female Founders initiative, launched in 2022.
Led by an international team spanning the US, Europe, and Asia, Digital Village offers new, scalable technologies for the creation and interaction of digital identities and assets in virtual worlds. The company was founded in 2021 by Evelyn Mora, former digital & sustainability consultant for leading brands and founder of the sustainability-focused and fully digital Helsinki Fashion Week. Digital Village’s Advisory Board counts founders and top executives from PANGAIA, The Sandbox, and Wave.
“As L’Oréal continues to explore and define what beauty means in Web3, we seek to work with the most promising startups who adhere to the highest possible visual and technical standards. We are excited to be partnering with Digital Village, whose solutions will be powerful enablers for our brands and whose ideals of sustainability, accessibility, and interoperability in the metaverse or Web3 are ones we share,” said Camille Kroely, Chief Metaverse & Web3 Officer at L’Oréal.
“We are excited to be backed by BOLD and look forward to collaborating with L’Oréal to revolutionize the beauty industry by creating cutting-edge virtual experiences for L’Oréal’s renowned brands. Together, we are setting the bar for beauty in the metaverse and Web3, pushing the boundaries of what is possible and setting a new standard for the industry to follow,” said Evelyn MORA, Founder and CEO of Digital Village.
The Venture Reality Fund (VR Fund), a Silicon Valley-based tech VC firm specialising in VR and AR, co-leads this Seed financing round in Digital Village alongside BOLD.
For more information about BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development): www.lorealboldventures.com
