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In 2018, Kering launched the first edition of its Kering Generation Award in China to support local start-ups with a positive environmental and social impact. Since then, the Kering Generation Award has expanded across several regions, including Saudi Arabia, with the support of the Kingdom’s Fashion Commission.
This first Saudi edition focused on identifying startups with a positive impact in the areas of customer engagement, circular economy, and water conservation. During a pitching session in early January, 10 start-ups among 100 were selected by a panel of experts. These 10 finalists then benefited from tailored mentoring before their final evaluation.
On January 27th, 3 start-ups were awarded during the closing ceremony in Riyadh.
Amused is Saudi Arabia's first and biggest community marketplace for pre-loved luxury items. The company uses AI to ensure the product's authenticity and make luxury in Saudi Arabia sustainable, authentic, and accessible.
Asteri is a desert-proof clean beauty brand created by, and for the modern Arab woman, made of locally sourced ingredients. Over 50% of the brand's packaging contains post-consumer recycled materials all FSC-certified.
Darah Solutions Lab is a start-up focused on redefining textile recycling by transforming discarded clothes into new, exciting creations.
The Awards were presented by Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability and Institutional Affairs Officer at Kering, Burak Çakmak, Chairman of the Fashion Commission of the Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as Miral Youssef, President of Kering Middle East & Africa.
"We are very proud of the excellent results from this first edition of the Kering Generation Award X Saudi Arabia: the number of startup applications as well as the level of projects were particularly high, showing a great signal that the Kingdom places the development of sustainability solutions into their future plans. We strongly believe initiatives like the Kering Generation Award is key to help to contribute and expand the startup ecosystem; from ideation and R&D to scaling commercialization and adoption. This is just the beginning of the story and we look forward to supporting future startups in the region on their road to success." said Marie-Claire.
The three laureates will benefit from a one-week trip to Paris to participate in a mentoring program with Kering's Sustainability team, as well as the opportunity to present their innovations at the ChangeNOW 2025 summit in late April.
About Kering
A global Luxury group, Kering manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in Fashion, Leather Goods and Jewelry: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo, Qeelin and Ginori 1735, as well as Kering Eyewear and Kering Beauté. By placing creativity at the heart of its strategy, Kering enables its Houses to set new limits in terms of their creative expression while crafting tomorrow’s Luxury in a sustainable and responsible way. We capture these beliefs in our signature: “Empowering Imagination”. In 2023, Kering had 49,000 employees and revenue of €19.6 billion.
About the Kering Generation Award
In 2017, as part of its Sustainability strategy, Kering joined the "Plug and Play - Fashion for Good" accelerator to identify more sustainable and innovative materials and processes in Europe. In 2018, in partnership with Plug and Play China, Kering launched the first edition of the "Kering Generation Award" to support Chinese start-ups with a positive environmental and social impact. Since then, the "Kering Generation Award" has been launched in Japan, and then in Saudi Arabia with the support of the Fashion Commission.
About the Fashion Commission
Founded in 2020, the Fashion Commission is leading the development of the Kingdom’s fashion sector. By driving investment and building robust regulatory frameworks, the commission is supporting the next generation of Saudi fashion talent as they aspire to reach their full potential. The commission is enabling the sector while preserving the Kingdom’s vast heritage in fashion and empowering Saudi fashion designers. Together with the Ministry of Culture, the commission is working to unlock a thriving cultural sector to preserve and elevate the traditions that make the Kingdom unique.
About Plug&Play
Plug and Play started its business at 165 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA in 1998. Since then, the company successfully invested and incubated many internet giants including PayPal, Google, Dropbox, etc. Plug and Play was formally established in Silicon Valley in 2006 and now has over 50 regional offices worldwide. It has invested in over 1,600 startups globally. Founded in 2016, Plug and Play China currently has 3 regional innovation centers in Beijing (China HQ), Shanghai and Shenzhen. There are 4 main business functions across Plug and Play China’s innovation platform including corporate innovation, city innovation, tech investment, and innovation space. To date, the company has engaged with 100+ industry-leading corporations, accelerated over 1700 startups, and has invested in over 150 startups including ApplyBoard, AutoX, Flexiv, ZiFiSense, etc.