Attendees had the opportunity to fully immerse themselves testing each of the startups’ innovative tech-solutions

UAE, Dubai: 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.

ABOUT CHALHOUB GROUP

For over six decades, Chalhoub Group has been a partner and creator of luxury experiences in the Middle East. The Group, in its endeavour to excel as a hybrid retailer, has reinforced its distribution and marketing services with a portfolio of eight owned brands and over 300 international brands in the luxury, beauty, fashion, and art de vivre categories. More recently, the Group expanded its expertise into new categories of luxury watches, jewellery, and eyewear.

Every step at Chalhoub Group is taken with the customer at heart. Be it constantly reinventing itself or focusing on innovation to provide luxury experiences at over 750+ experiential retail stores, online and through mobile apps, each touch point leads to delighting the customer.

Today, Chalhoub Group stands for 14,000 skilled and talented professionals across seven countries, whose cohesive efforts have resulted in the Group being ranked third in the Middle East and second in Saudi Arabia as a Great Place to Work®.

In addition to the investment arm, the Group has set up “The Greenhouse”, which is an incubator and accelerator for start-ups and small businesses in the region and internationally. These are just a couple of the initiatives taken by the Group to reinvent itself, catalysed by forward thinking and future proofing. The Group has also been embedding sustainability at the core of its business strategy with a clear commitment towards people, partners and the planet, and by being a member of the United Nations Global Compact Community and signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles.

Lea Maalouf
Head of Media Relations and Public Affairs
​​​​​​​Lea.Maalouf@chalhoub.com