Even in an industry where the vast majoirty of customers are women, the presence of companies run by female CEOs is lacking. But beauty retailer Sephora is out to change that. The retailer, which is part of LVMH, has created of Sephora Accelerate, a new program established to foster early-stage beauty businesses founded by female entrepreneurs.
 
The program is a key initiative of Sephora Stands, the company's new social impact strategy built on the pillars of philanthropy, aligned social engagement, and shared value, to inspire confidence and fearlessness among women.
 
Comprised of three distinct programs designed to address the needs of entrepreneurs, communities, and Sephora employees, Sephora Steands will continue to take shape throughout 2016, exclusively in the the company’s Americas region.
 
“Sephora is uniquely positioned to support and inspire women as they achieve their goals, and from the beginning, it's been among the top requests from both our clients and our employees,” said Calvin McDonald, president and CEO of Sephora Americas.
 

Currently, female entrepreneurs do not have the same access to funding, connections, or business instruction as male entrepreneurs do, a fact reflected by the statistic that 85% of venture capital funded start-ups are led exclusively by men.
 
Recognizing that even in the beauty industry, where most customers are women, female founders are still underrepresented, Sephora designed the program to build a community of innovative female founders in all areas of the beauty industry.
 
The retailer says it is eschewing a competition-style format and instead embraces a more collaborative and supportive structure, creating an approach that catalyzes growth and infuses social impact into each brand's work.
 
Qualifying candidates are invited to apply for one of up to 10 spots in the year-long program, with applications reviewed in partnership with OpenIDEO, the social innovation platform of global design firm IDEO.  Each “Fellow” must meet specific criteria, including being a founder or co-founder of their business, being committed to building social impact into the company's DNA, and fitting within two broad categories: leading a company that creates a cosmetic product, or a company that creates technology or provides services related to beauty or that could be relevant to the beauty industry.
 
Once selected, the Fellows participate in a bootcamp at Sephora’s Headquarters in San Francisco designed to teach the necessary skills to run and build their businesses. They also gain access to an exclusive mentorship program comprised of Sephora's network of beauty industry leaders, and become eligible for possible funding through Sephora. The goal of program is, by 2020, to support more than 50 women-led beauty businesses with a social impact through bootcamps, mentorship, and small loans, according to Sephora.