Gabriella TermineToday’s beauty news proves that from investments to acknowledgements to the prevalence of AI, the beauty industry is growing in important new ways.
For starters, Live Tinted has completed a new funding round led by Curate Capital, with additional investment from BOLD, L’Oréal’s venture capital arm. This marks the first time BOLD and Unilever have co-invested in a U.S. based beauty brand. All previous Series A investors also participated, along with early supporters such as Bobbi Brown, Toni Ko, and Hayley Barna. The round values the company at more than twice its Series A valuation from early 2023, reflecting strong growth. Live Tinted is strengthening its leadership team as it enters a new growth phase, appointing Aminata Tall as Chief Marketing Officer and Celina Areosa as Senior Vice President of Sales. Founded by Deepica Mutyala following her viral YouTube video on representation, first gained traction with its sell out HUESTICK Color Corrector. Today, Live Tinted sells both direct to consumer and through retail partners including Ulta Beauty, where it was the first South Asian–founded brand to launch. With strong product performance such as its HUEGUARD Skin Tint SPF 50 selling every two minutes and over one million products sold in 2025, the company continues to scale with purpose.
Female founded biotech skin care brand Sickscience is entering 757 Ulta Beauty locations this month. Two years after its official launch, the brand, founded by Dr. Merve Yildirim said the expansion allows the brand “to interact with a highly engaged beauty consumer who is actively seeking innovation, efficacy and transparency. This partnership marks a pivotal step in making high-performance biotech beauty more accessible than ever.” reports WWD. The duo held a party Wednesday evening in Chelsea marking the big move, which supplements its DTC and Amazon distribution.
Jotaka Eaddy, CEO of Full Circle Strategies and leader of the Win with Black Women movement, will be honored with a Luminary Award at the 2026 Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Also known as the “Olivia Pope of Silicon Valley,” Eaddy is being recognized for her influence across business, tech, and politics. Eaddy has led major campaigns for organizations like OWN, Goldman Sachs, and The Color Purple, while growing #WinWithBlackWomen into a national force that has shaped key political moments and generated over 600 million social impressions. With more than 20 years of experience in policy and advocacy, she has also advised startups, worked with the NAACP on voting rights victories, and earned multiple national honors, solidifying her impact as a champion for expanding power and opportunity for Black women.
Amazon is reportedly in talks to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI, a move that would mark a striking vote of confidence in the AI leader even as the e-commerce giant has poured billions into rival Anthropic since 2023. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy have been in direct discussions, with terms still fluid but a potential agreement expected in the coming weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported. The investment could be part of a much larger OpenAI fundraising round totaling as much as $100 billion, with strategic partners including Amazon, Microsoft, and Nvidia potentially participating first, followed by investors such as SoftBank. Founded in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab, OpenAI surged into the mainstream with the 2022 launch of ChatGPT and reached a $500 billion valuation following a secondary share sale in October.
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Live Tinted Lands Fresh Investment Round
SickScience Debuts at Ulta Beauty
Full Circle Strategies CEO Jotaka Eaddy to Receive Luminary Award
