L’Oréal acquires water-saving specialist Gjosa

The L’Oréal group has acquired Swiss start-up Gjosa (the Icelandic word for ‘geyser’), which has developed shower heads for hairdressing salons that reduce water consumption by 69% using a water-fragmentation process called micronisation.

L’Oréal initially bought a minority stake in Gjosa in 2021, through its Bold (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development) venture-capital fund. As L’Oréal explained to FashionNetwork.com at Parisian tech start-up event VivaTech 2023, last year Gjosa shower heads equipped 10,000 hairdressing salons across Europe and the Middle East. According to L’Oréal, the water saving that ensued was equivalent to 72 Olympic swimming pools. L’Oréal is hoping to make Gjosa shower heads available to 200,000 salons.

“By 2030, nearly 60% of the world’s population is expected to be water-stressed. Combining science and technology will play a vital role in our efforts to protect this valuable resource,” said Barbara Lavernos, deputy managing director for research, innovation and technology at L’Oréal. “With Gjosa officially joining L’Oréal, we can accelerate Research and Innovation and go-to-market with more innovative and sustainable Beauty Tech solutions for the professional and consumer markets,” she added.

Gjosa was founded in 2016 and is spearheaded by CEO Laurent Manca. One of its founders is Elmar Mock, co-founder of the Swatch company.

The L’Oréal group has 87,400 employees and owns 37 international brands, and in 2022 it reported a revenue of €38.26 billion. In Q1 of fiscal 2023, the group recorded a revenue growth of 12.6%, in like-for-like terms and at constant exchange rates. The group’s next AGM will be held on April 21 in Paris.