American Company Ulta Beauty Launches Prisma Ventures Digital Innovation Fund

Ulta Beauty, the largest beauty retailer in the United States, has announced the official launch of Prisma Ventures, a digital innovation fund that will invest $20 million in emerging technology startups that seek to shape future online and in-store experiences by unlocking new technology that enables greater discovery, personalization, and convenience.

The Ulta Beauty digital innovation fund will alter the future of retail and pave the road for the visionaries and technologies of tomorrow. (Photo: Ulta Beauty)
The Ulta Beauty digital innovation fund will alter the future of retail and pave the road for the visionaries and technologies of tomorrow. Photograph: Ulta Beauty

"The launch of Prisma Ventures is simply another example of Ulta Beauty's unique leadership and forward-thinking retail offerings. Ulta Beauty's chief digital officer, Prama Bhatt, believes that this fund provides opportunity for creative innovators to further advance the sector. "We want to establish long-lasting ties with entrepreneurs, welcome them into our ecosystem, co-creating and experimenting in ways that tap each other's knowledge and eventually utilise our resources to envision – and re-envision – the future of retail and beauty."

The fund combines Ulta Beauty's size and scale with the speed and single focus of digital companies in order to expedite innovation by fostering long-term strategic collaborations. Prisma Ventures gives access to the retailer's extensive experience and resources, in addition to money investment. Fund members will have access to Ulta Beauty's innovation team, unprecedented consumer data, and in-market testing possibilities to optimise and meaningfully deliver revolutionary solutions.

Prisma Ventures has worked with and invested in several startups, including Haut.ai, Adeptmind, Revea, LUUM, and ReStyle, since its debut at Ulta Beauty's 2021 investor day. These efforts have allowed more personalisation and diagnosis inside the digital skin and hair experiences of Ulta Beauty to date. The firm does not expect every investments to have a direct influence on its services, but where synergies exist, partners will collaborate to bring innovation to market.

"Ulta Beauty's investment was a game-changer, allowing us to test, learn, implement, and grow our low-code AI innovation platform. Jon Nordmark, co-founder and CEO of Iterate.ai, said that Ulta Beauty's use of Iterate's platform to create engaging, distinctive experiences for beauty aficionados nationally enhanced the company's reputation. "Throughout our six-year partnership, which expanded from a minor agreement in 2016 to an eventual investment, the collaborative spirit has remained consistent. Together, we are advancing the industry with astounding AI, AR, and IoT innovations."

How It Operates
Prisma Ventures collaborates with Series Seed and Series A technology businesses in the following innovation pillars:

Data-driven and personalised technology
The AR, VR, and Metaverse
Customized Cosmetics and In-Store Services Powered by Technology
Social Business
These pillars represent the bulk of Prisma Ventures' investments, mirroring Ulta Beauty's digital innovation goals and growth strategy. The remaining investments are earmarked for opportunistic innovations that extend outside the company's primary digital strategy to disrupt other aspects of retail, beauty, or commerce.

The team at Ulta Beauty Prisma Ventures will assess applications based on the following five important metrics:

Companies that connect with Ulta Beauty's four major innovation pillars are viewed favourably.
Leadership & Cultural Compatibility: The management experience, capacity to execute, and cultural compatibility of the startups are essential for productive cooperation.
Risk Evaluation & Due Diligence The successful completion of due diligence across several functions, such as legal, technical, and business.
Business Plan & Scalability: Value proposition, vision, strategies to achieve financial objectives, and scalability
IP & Distinction: Innovative competencies, patents, and technologies
Please visit www.ulta.com/prisma-ventures for more information on Prisma Ventures.


Regarding Ulta Beauty
At Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA), the options are lovely. Ulta Beauty is the leading destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin care products, hair care products, and salon services in the United States. In 1990, the Company reimagined the beauty retail experience by introducing a new way to shop for beauty, bringing together all beauty-related products in one location. Today, Ulta Beauty runs over 1,300 retail locations in all 50 states and also distributes its goods through its website, which features a collection of advice, tutorials, and social content. For further details, please visit www.ulta.com.
Recently, Ulta Beauty was included to the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, which analyses the financial performance of publicly traded firms dedicated to promoting gender equality via policy formulation, representation, and transparency.
You may find further information on Ulta Beauty's corporate responsibility initiatives at https://ulta.com/investor/esg.