L'Oreal USA NEXT Generation Award Winners Announced at Ceremony Featuring Guest Host Olivia Munn, Star of HBO's 'The Newsroom' and Self Proclaimed 'Hollywood Geek'

L'Oreal USA Women In Digital Honors & Grants Groundbreaking Opportunities to Innovative Technology Companies Led by Women

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L'Oreal USA

Jul 25, 2013, 09:23 ET

NEW YORK, July 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- L'Oreal USA Women in Digital, a program that recognizes and grants opportunities to women working in digital marketing, technology and IT functions, announced the recipients of their second annual NEXT Generation awards at a ceremony in New York City. The three standout female-founded and led digital companies, selected from a group of more than 1,600 nominations, included Heather Marie, Founder and CEO, 72Lux; Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Founder and CEO, JOYUS; and Kelsey Falter, Founder and CEO, Poptip.

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The L'Oreal USA Women in Digital NEXT Generation Awards identifies and provides opportunities to technology companies that are run by women and have the potential to shake-up the beauty industry. The three winning companies will be given breakthrough opportunities to apply and integrate their digital products and services to marquee national and international brands at L'Oreal USA.

"The objective of the L'Oreal USA Women in Digital program is to help break down the barriers for women in the digital space by delivering them opportunities for their technology in the beauty industry," said Rachel Weiss, VP, Digital Innovation, Content, and New Business Ventures at L'Oreal USA and Chair of the L'Oreal USA Women in Digital Program. "The program truly serves as a pipeline for innovation and advocacy for women entrepreneurs, and we're excited that over the next year, we can apply the creative technology from these exceptional companies into real functionality for L'Oreal brands and products."

"Through programs like L'Oreal USA Women in Digital, women entrepreneurs are given meaningful support for their businesses and the potential to transform the digital world. I am so honored to be part of an event that's giving female digital rock stars the opportunity to shine," said actress Olivia Munn.

The L'Oreal USA NEXT Generation winners were selected by a panel of L'Oreal USA executives, Venture Capital Partners and the L'Oreal USA Women in Digital Board of Advisors who include: Carolyn Everson, Facebook; Joanne Bradford, Demand Media; Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post; Jalak Jobanputra, Future\Perfect Ventures; Karin Klein, Bloomberg Beta; Katie Rae, TechStars Boston; Rudina Seseri, Fairhaven Capital; Shelley Zalis, Ipsos.

"At L'Oreal USA we celebrate innovation throughout all aspects of our business, and we continuously strive to achieve even greater growth in the digital space. We are excited to celebrate our 2013 winners, who have created important digital technology for women, and to give them opportunity to apply their technology to L'Oreal's core female consumers," said Marc Speichert, Chief Marketing Officer at L'Oreal USA.

The winners of the 2012 L'Oreal USA Women in Digital "NEXT Generation Awards" are:

72Lux, Heather Marie, Founder and CEO - 72Lux is a software company with patent-pending technology that enables digital publishers to sell the products they feature in their editorial. This proprietary technology makes their content effortlessly shoppable by connecting publishers with their preferred retailers to ultimately create an entirely new revenue stream for both publishers and retailers. The technology also allows for an enhanced user experience so the customer can purchase directly within the website that inspired their purchase decision.

JOYUS, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Founder and CEO - JOYUS is the world's first premium online video shopping experience for the modern woman. Every day, its team of fashion, beauty, health, fitness and lifestyle experts share their perspective, tips and special product finds to help customers live their best and most beautiful lives, anytime, anywhere.

Poptip, Kelsey Falter, Founder and CEO - Poptip is a software platform that enables crowd participation. The Poptip platform has two products: Poptip Questions, which offers the ability to ask questions and surveys over social media, and Poptip Zipline, which offers real time conversation synthesis for news organizations and brands.

Winners of the L'Oreal USA NEXT Generation Awards receive the opportunity to pilot their technology with L'Oreal brands, to be introduced to investors and executives, and to receive mentorship from Advisory Board members and program partners. The L'Oreal USA Women in Digital program was created to support, empower, mentor and educate women working in technology as a collective force across all industries and functions, and to address the underrepresentation of women in digital and technical fields.

At the ceremony, a $25,000 college scholarship was presented to Girls Who Code, a national nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in the technology and engineering sectors. The scholarship is for a graduating student of their curriculum to pursue a degree in technology or a related field.

"Through Women in Digital's partnership with Girls Who Code, we hope to encourage the next generation of leaders in technology and support the emergence of tomorrow's digital mavens," stated Weiss. "It is important, now more than ever, to encourage women and girls to learn to code, program, design, develop and lead the next innovations in technology."

For more information please visit: www.lorealwomenindigital.com

About the L'Oreal USA Internal Women in Digital Program

As part of the ongoing commitment to supporting women in digital career paths at L'Oreal USA, L'Oreal will be hosting internal meetings, events, speakers and workshops for all L'Oreal USA employees. The goal of these gatherings will be to provide internal support, inspiration and mentoring for all women at L'Oreal already working or interested in working in digital and IT functions.

About L'OREAL USA

L'Oreal USA, headquartered in New York City, is the #1 wholly-owned subsidiary of L'Oreal SA, the world's leading beauty company. In addition to corporate headquarters in New York, L'Oreal USA has Research and Innovation and Manufacturing and Distribution facilities across seven other states including New Jersey, Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois, Ohio, Texas and Washington. For more information on our brands visit www.lorealusa.com. Follow us on Facebook at L'Oreal USA - Corporate Facebook Page and Twitter @LOrealUSACorp.