MILAN — Beiersdorf is doubling down on venture capital as a strategic lever to drive future growth by launching the second generation of its corporate venture capital fund with a 100 million-euro commitment.

Called the Skin Care Innovation Fund, the move doubles the volume of the fund launched in 2020 and signals Beiersdorf’s reinforced ambition to become industry leaders in driving skin care innovation.

“With our second, 100 million-euro venture capital fund, we build on the conviction that pioneering ideas need both capital and the right partners,” said Ascan Voswinckel, head of Beiersdorf Venture Capital, or BVC. This is the corporate venture capital arm of Beiersdorf AG, the Hamburg, Germany-based maker of Nivea, La Prairie and Eucerin products that generated sales of 9.9 billion euros in the 2025 fiscal year.

“In addition to funding, we provide access to Beiersdorf’s leading R&D expertise and global brand platforms, a combination that creates sustainable value for both sides,” Voswinckel said. “This comes together with a considerable innovation momentum in our key fields, leading to attractive investment opportunities, for example in longevity science or AI-enabled actives discovery.”

“Breakthrough innovation in skin care is increasingly driven by the synergy between extensive in-house research expertise and the dynamic advancements of external scientific entrepreneurship,” echoed Gitta Neufang, chief research and development officer at Beiersdorf. “Through our Skin Care Innovation Fund, we connect scientific advances from start-ups with Beiersdorf’s global R&D capabilities to translate scientific progress into effective skin care solutions for consumers worldwide.”

In particular, BVC focuses on companies operating across skin care and fields such as life sciences and biotechnology, sustainability, AI-enabled technologies and digital health solutions. The fund invests globally from early- to growth-stage companies, with initial investments typically ranging from 500,000 euros to 5 million euros.

Since 2020, BVC has built a portfolio of more than 15 companies across life science, sustainability and digital health. These include S-Biomedic, a Belgian player in skin microbiome science, whose technology was integrated into Beiersdorf’s microbiome design platform. The fund also backs start-ups such as Vincere Biosciences, a specialist in mitophagy research, and Turbine, frontrunner of AI-based cell simulation, in its quest to explore scientifically validated approaches to skin aging.