Ulta Beauty Announces 2026 MUSE Accelerator Cohort

BOLINGBROOK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 2, 2026--

Ulta Beauty, the nation’s largest beauty retailer, has selected the 8 beauty and wellness brands that will participate in the fifth annual MUSE Accelerator Program, as part of Ulta Beauty’s ongoing dedication to supporting brand development and retail readiness.

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Starting September 14, these early-stage brands spanning haircare, skincare, fragrance, cosmetics and body care, will kick-off an enriching 10-week journey that includes a robust curriculum, mentorship and funding to fuel growth and prepare for retail distribution.

Meet the 2026 MUSE Accelerator Cohort:

“For five years, MUSE has elevated emerging voices with the potential to shape the future of beauty, providing founders with greater access to the resources, mentorship and support that can help them succeed,” said Lauren Brindley, chief merchandising and digital officer at Ulta Beauty. “We’re proud to have supported 32 brands and counting and look forward to seeing the impact this next cohort will have on our industry.”

MUSE Accelerator: Five Years of Impact

Launched in 2022, the MUSE Accelerator supports Ulta Beauty’s ongoing efforts to m agnify, u plift, s upport and e mpower underrepresented voices in the industry while curating an inclusive assortment that represents All Things Beauty, All In One Place® for beauty enthusiasts. In the program’s five years, the MUSE Accelerator has become a proven incubator, thoughtfully identifying and nurturing founders with strong vision, efficacious products and scalable potential.

Through MUSE, Ulta Beauty has:

About MUSE Accelerator

Each brand in the 2026 MUSE Accelerator cohort receives $50,000 in financial support to help accelerate their business and valuable resources to establish a foundation for long-term success. Additionally, Ulta Beauty and long-time partner Fifteen Percent Pledge will select one member of the cohort to receive an additional $10K award, based on the brand’s sales growth, whitespace opportunity and community impact. In total, Ulta Beauty will grant $410K in funds to eight brands.

A core component of the Accelerator is the 10-week curriculum intentionally designed to equip participants with real-life skills to succeed in retail, including brand strategy and positioning, fundamentals for retail success, and supply chain logistics, as well as the opportunity to pitch Ulta Beauty retail merchants and network with investors.

MUSE participants will also hear first-hand from influential voices in the beauty and wellness space through intimate fireside chats featuring Deepica Mutyala, CEO and founder of Live Tinted; Grace Ray, CEO of Cécred; Nancy Twine, founder of Briogeo; Jessica Cruel, editor in chief at Allure Magazine; Chelsea Riggs, founder of Amika; Dianna Ruth, founder of Milk Makeup; and Cristina Nuñez, founder of True Beauty Ventures, among others.

2026 MUSE Accelerator Mentors

In addition to obtaining the necessary knowledge and financial support needed to grow a business, MUSE participants are surrounded with a network of experienced leaders from Ulta Beauty and other brand founders within Ulta Beauty’s brand portfolio, creating impactful connections and relationships that endure beyond the 10-week program.

The MUSE Accelerator mentors for 2026 are:

“We are honored to return as mentors in Ulta Beauty’s 2026 MUSE Accelerator Program,” said Julissa Prado and Tony Prado, co-founders of Rizos Curls. “Rizos Curls lives by the 3 C’s of Curls, Community and Culture, and we are deeply connected to empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs with the insights and resources that have been instrumental in our own journey as founders. Having experienced firsthand the wide scope of building and scaling a brand, we know how meaningful it can be to have access to mentorship, community and the right resources to succeed at retail. We’re proud to play a role in MUSE to help the next generation turn their visions into lasting and impactful brands.”

New this year, Ulta Beauty is introducing Alumni Spotlights to its programming to celebrate the MUSE participants who have accelerated their businesses since completing the program and pass on valuable learnings to this year’s cohort. Featured alumni include OCOA, Octavia Morgan Los Angeles, Scarlet by Red Drop and POOM Cosmetics.

OCOA, a 2024 MUSE Accelerator alum, launched in more than 460 Ulta Beauty stores and on Ulta.com in August 2025. As the first Dominican hair care brand at Ulta Beauty, OCOA is now celebrating its first year at Ulta Beauty – an exciting milestone in the brand’s continued growth and journey since participating in the Accelerator program.

“Being accepted into the MUSE program transformed the entire trajectory of our business,” said Cory Varona and Nicol Varona, co-founders of OCOA. “The program didn’t just prepare us for national retail, it provided the financial investment, world-class mentorship and internal sponsorship needed to scale into over 460 Ulta Beauty stores just a year later in 2025. It truly takes a village to thrive at this level, and the generosity of the brand mentors, merchant partners and the entire Ulta Beauty team gave us the blueprint and confidence to execute our dream.”

To learn more, visit http://www.ulta.com/muse-accelerator.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA) is the largest specialty beauty retailer in the U.S. and a leading destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin care, hair care, wellness and salon services. Since opening its first store in 1990, Ulta Beauty has grown to more than 1,500 stores across the U.S. and redefined beauty retail by bringing together All Things Beauty. All in One Place ®. With an expansive product assortment, professional salon services, and its beloved Ulta Beauty Rewards loyalty program, the company delivers seamless, personalized experiences across stores, Ulta.com and the Ulta Beauty App – where the possibilities are truly beautiful. Ulta Beauty is also expanding its presence internationally through its subsidiary, Space NK, a luxury beauty retailer operating in the U.K. and Ireland, its joint venture in Mexico, and its franchise in the Middle East. For more information, visit www.ulta.com.

2026 MUSE Accelerator brands

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil giant Chevron confirmed that it will expand its operations in Venezuela, just days after President Donald Trump announced an ambitious deal to develop the nation’s oil reserves and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits.

Chevron, the only U.S. oil company that has a major presence in the country, said Wednesday that it has been assigned additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt, where the company has an established position. Joint venture plans include investing more than $7 billion over the next five years, more than doubling production to approximately 600,000 barrels a day compared to 2026.

“Chevron’s history in Venezuela spans more than a century, and our expanded position reflects our confidence in the country’s deep resource potential and its ability to compete for investment within our portfolio for decades,” CEO Mike Wirth said in a prepared statement. “With improved terms and additional acreage, we are strengthening a portfolio that we believe can deliver attractive low-cost oil growth, support energy supply and create differentiated long-term value.”

Venezuela holds the world's largest proven reserves, which contain more than 303 billion barrels of crude oil, according to OPEC's 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin. Saudi Arabia is a distant second with 267 billion barrels.

The announcement comes a day after a U.S. official, who briefed reporters on the expected announcement, said that Chevron officials and Energy Secretary Chris Wright were expected to visit Venezuela on Wednesday where the new investment will be formally unveiled. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House for the call.

Chevron is the second-largest U.S. oil company and the only one with a major presence in Venezuela. It has had a presence in the country since 1923. Its joint ventures Petroindependencia and Petropiar, S.A. operate extra-heavy oil projects in the Orinoco Oil Belt, while Petroboscan, S.A. is located in the Zulia State in Western Venezuela.

The White House confirmed on Monday that it is partnering with North American Blue Energy Partners as part of Trump ’s push to tap into Venezuela’s oil industry.

The sweeping agreement has been met with skepticism from analysts who say it will take years to revive Venezuela’s production, which is in disarray after years of neglect.

Energy experts also have questioned about whether Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez has the legal authority to give the company 100-year rights over 17 oil fields with reserves of 65 billion barrels — and whether future Venezuelan or American administrations would overturn the agreement.

Trump has had his eyes on Venezuela’s oil since the capture of Nicolás Maduro, and his aides call it a path away from reliance on oil from the Middle East. Trump has been pressing to get U.S. businesses to restore a presence in the country, and suggested Monday that other oil companies were readying for business in Venezuela. “We have Exxon going in, we have Chevron going in. We have our big oil companies going in,” he said. Trump in January said he was inclined to leave Exxon out of Venezuela after CEO Darren Woods called the country “uninvestable.”

A spokesman for Exxon said Tuesday, however, that “Nothing has changed” on the company’s position regarding Venezuela.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, asked about Chevron’s announcement during an interview on Wednesday, said, “No American firm knows how to operate in Venezuela better than Chevron.”

Bessent told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” that Trump is “creating assets for the American people” with the deal and that the arrangement “is going to push down oil prices, push up production” to benefit U.S. consumers and the Venezuelan economy.

Trump has said that the agreement with Venezuela would “substantially lower” gasoline prices in the U.S. However, experts have repeatedly warned that Venezuela’s dilapidated oil infrastructure will require years of restoration work and tens of billions of dollars to resuscitate.

Meanwhile, gasoline prices jumped higher again overnight, reaching $4.12 on average for a regular gallon of gasoline, according to the motor club AAA.

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Collin Binkley contributed to this report.

A woman covering a child from the rain walks along the shore of Lake Maracaibo in the oil-producing region of Cabimas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A fisherman steers his boat on Lake Maracaibo in the oil-producing region of Cabimas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A woman walks near of a oil storage tank of Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA in Cabimas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Sep. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)