Following the call for applications in August 2022, over 180 applications were received from the region and across the globe, which was narrowed down to its final four retail startups across the tech, beauty, and luxury sectors.

The four selected retail-tech startups are Momenti from South Korea and New York, a next generation content platform that enables and creates multidimensional interactive content that users can touch and engage with; 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, develops a virtual experience building and management platform for retailers; and Sleekflow from Hong Kong, which focuses on enabling brands to enhance their communications with customers across omnichannel platforms.

Each of the four start-ups will come to Dubai and be allocated to a taskforce within the L’Occitane MENA and Greenhouse team, who will provide mentorship, business growth advice and resources throughout the entire process as they work together to implement new edge retail-tech solutions and develop a proof of concept for the regional market.

Joaquin Mencia, Chief Innovation Officer at Chalhoub Group commented: “The Greenhouse is the Chalhoub Group’s space for innovation and entrepreneurship and is continuously committed to empowering the start-up ecosystem and implementing innovative solutions for our partners. The L’Occitane retail-tech accelerator programme is bringing the world’s most innovative minds as we work together to enhance the region’s ever-evolving and rapidly growing luxury retail sector.”

Joseph Kedemos, Managing Director at L’Occitane MENA stated: “At L’Occitane MENA we are very excited to kickstart our first retail-tech accelerator programme in partnership with Chalhoub Group and The Greenhouse. Over the next four months, these start-ups will showcase tailor-made proof of concepts and implement their new age retail tech solutions with L’Occitane for the first time in the Middle East, with the aim to bring new opportunities, elevate the brand’s regional presence and customer experience.”

Following the proof of concept development phase, an official demo day will take place in May 2023 to give each of the startups the opportunity to present their proof of concepts to key internal stakeholders across The Greenhouse, L’Occitane MENA and Chalhoub Group. The programme will also potentially offer the entrepreneurs the chance to sign long-term commercial agreements with L’Occitane MENA and other Chalhoub Group brands down the line.