LVMH celebrated innovation at the 2025 edition of Vivatech in Paris by awarding three standout start-ups—Kahoona, Genesis, and OMI—for their contributions to tech and sustainability in the luxury sector. The awards were presented by Antoine Arnault, standing in for Bernard Arnault, with the group’s Deputy Managing Director Stéphane Bianchi emphasizing that “people come first” in LVMH’s innovation vision.
Best Business Prize: Kahoona
New York-based Kahoona, which specializes in real-time predictive segmentation, took home the Best Business Prize. In use by Dior and soon other LVMH maisons, Kahoona’s tech mimics human retail intuition online by analyzing anonymous visitors’ digital behavior—such as zooms, clicks, and swipes—to tailor offers accordingly.
“We’ve created a kind of digital body language,” said co-founder Gal Rapoport, who formerly led personalization for Amazon Alexa.
The startup is now expanding into fashion, beauty, banking, and automotive, with a funding round planned for late 2025.
Best Impact Prize: Genesis
Genesis, a Paris-based startup, was awarded the Best Impact Prize for its soil health analytics platform, used by Moët Hennessy and other LVMH wine and spirits brands. The platform provides actionable insights into soil quality across crops, including cotton, beetroot, wool, and flowers.
“The decline in raw material quality and soil health is a growing crisis,” said co-founder Adrienne de Malleray.
The goal is to bridge the gap between agricultural science and executive-level decisions in luxury production.
Most Promising Prize: OMI
French startup OMI won the Most Promising Prize, presented with a gold trophy created by Tiffany & Co. OMI’s virtual photo studio technology helps brands like Guerlain create realistic digital assets—images and videos—for print, e-commerce, and social media.
Having raised €13 million and expanded to New York, OMI is at the forefront of digital asset creation, helping luxury brands streamline content generation with high visual fidelity and speed.
Bonus Innovation: Sephora’s Gamification
The LVMH Dreamscape Pavilion featured other impressive start-up partnerships, including Cosmic Shelter’s pinball game for Sephora, linked to a lipstick launch.
According to Anca Marola, Sephora’s Director of Digital, the gamified campaign doubled conversion rates, showing how LVMH continues to blend entertainment with measurable results.
