Sephora is getting ready to announce its first Fellows – the winners of the new mentorship program, Sephora Accelerate.

Sephora hand-selected several entrepreneurs to apply, and the finalists will be notified by February 8th, 2016 – and the the 10 winners will be announced on March 25th.

The Mentor Program

The Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in the program, all expenses paid – and each will receive a $2,500 grant, and will be eligible for additional funding. The first group of Sephora Fellows will attend Bootcamp in April 24th through April 30th at Sephora’s headquarters in San Francisco.

Beauty industry leaders, start-up experts, and IDEO trained designers will work one-on-one, offering mentorship and design support. mentoring will include learning how to structure a businesses model, analyze the market, determine a growth plan and decide on a funding strategy.

The program ends with Demo Day presentations, to be scheduled from August 29th through August 31st. The Fellows will pitch their products to Sephora’s Merchandising and Innovation team.

The Mission

Sephora Accelerate is a key initiative of Sephora Stands, which the retailer describes as its new social impact strategy, “built on the pillars of philanthropy, aligned social engagement, and shared value, to inspire confidence and fearlessness among women.”

Calvin McDonald, President and CEO, Sephora Americas, said, “Sephora is uniquely positioned to support and inspire women as they achieve their goals, and from the beginning, it’s been among the top requests from both our clients and our employees.

McDonald continued, “While past efforts have been effective on a local level, Sephora Stands is a holistic new strategy, spearheaded by our Head of Social Impact, Corrie Conrad, which allows us to better leverage the depth of our expertise and the incredible passion of our employees for a more focused result.”

Female entrepreneurs don’t have the same access to funding, connections, or business instruction as male entrepreneurs do, according to Sephora’s research, which states that 85% of venture capital funded start-ups are led exclusively by men – so Sephora is setting its plans in motion to change this statistic.

Through the Sephora Accelerate program, the company aims to help more than 50 women-led businesses with a social impact by 2020 – through bootcamps, mentorship, and small loans.