ghd Innovation Hive

Helping design the next era of beauty and hair electronics

The ghd Innovation Hive ran from October 2018 - January 2019

ghd (the global leader in hair tools and subsidiary of the third largest beauty company in the world, Coty) and CW (Cambridge Wireless) partnered to bring a new form of accelerator to the technology scene. Five companies were invited to spend three months from October 2018 working alongside ghd R&D and local technology mentors to co-design a prototype connected hair styling device. The work was part-funded and for those start-ups whose intellectual property from the ghd Innovation Hive was taken to market by ghd, they were able to negotiate commercial terms.

Putting the capabilities of digital connectivity into the hands of users is the next step for beauty electronics and the best ideas always come from diverse, inclusive teams. By nurturing start-ups in the Innovation Hive and aligning their creativity and agility with the experience of the ghd product development team, we will be able to design advanced device prototypes in a shorter period of time.

Tim Moore, VP Smart Devices, Coty (parent company of ghd)

Based in the Bradfield Centre, a Cambridge co-working space for scale-ups, the ghd Innovation Hive offered a supportive and fast-paced environment for talented engineers, software developers and user experience designers. It immersed participants in the user requirements of the beauty industry and involved experts from across the supply chain, from device designers to salon technicians.

Further Details

The ghd Innovation Hive involved start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs with experience and skills in (but not restricted to):

  • Connected and smart devices
  • Sensor technology
  • Internet of things
  • Mobile applications
  • User experience
  • Machine learning and data processing
  • Data security

The timeline is:

Date Activity
Monday 3 September Call for entries opens
Friday 28 September Call for entries closes
Monday 29 October The ghd Innovation Hive starts
Monday 28 January The ghd Innovation Hive wraps up

The ghd Innovation Hive was based in The Bradfield Centre, Cambridge, UK

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