True Beauty Ventures

ActiveVenture Capital

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Updated: Jan 22, 2026 ·

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
Apr 1, 2024	Richualist	$150K Seed	—	Willow Growth Partners LP
Dec 1, 2023	Iris&Romeo	$3.0M Series A	—	—
Mar 1, 2023	Youthforia	$400K Seed	—	Amplify.LA, Bam Ventures, Brand Foundry Ventures, Divergent Capital, FirstMark Capital, Harlem Capital, Monarch Collective, NFX, Pelion Venture Partners, Vamos Ventures, Willow Growth Partners LP, Gwyneth Paltrow, Heidi Zak, John Henry, Sahin Boydas
Nov 1, 2022	ResortPass	$26.0M Series B	—	14W, 9Yards Capital, Kevin Hartz, Andreessen Horowitz, Brand Foundry Ventures, CRV, Divergent Capital, Geek Ventures, Incisive Ventures, Thirty Five Ventures, Tribe Capital, Unpopular Ventures, Andre Iguodala, Carlos Julio Garcia, David Vélez, Gabriel Braga, Gabriel Jarrosson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Heidi Zak, Immad Akhund, Luc Levesque, Michael Stoppelman, Odell Beckham Jr., Pablo Gonzalez, Philippe Teixeira da Mota, Ricardo Weder, Sean Flynn, Tom Blomfield, William Hockey
May 1, 2022	Crown Affair	$5.0M Series A	—	BITKRAFT Ventures, Casa Verde Capital, Craft Ventures, K2 Global, Kearny Jackson, Listen, RRE Ventures, Shrug Capital, Sound Ventures, Thomas Pentz, Tribe Capital, XFactor Ventures, Ahmir Khalib Thompson, Brad Handler, Gee Roberson, James Corden, Marc Benioff, Nik Sharma, Paul George, Ryan Tedder, Steve Aoki, Steven Alan, Warren Shaeffer
Mar 1, 2022	Cay Skin	$4.0M Seed	—	—
Jan 1, 2022	Moon Juice	$7.0M Series C	—	—
Nov 1, 2021	Party Round	$7.0M Seed	—	Kevin Hartz, Addition, Andreessen Horowitz, Audrey Capital, Big Sky Health, Coinbase Ventures, Connect Ventures, Craft Ventures, Creative Juice, Dreamers VC, Electric Capital, ENIAC Ventures, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Exponent Founders Capital, Firstminute Capital, Freestyle Capital, Future Africa, General Catalyst, Gradient Ventures, Hustle Fund, Interlock Partners, Kearny Jackson, Khosla Ventures, LightShed Ventures, Listen, Luno Expeditions, NewFund, Next Coast Ventures, Norrsken VC, Not Boring Capital, Precursor Ventures, Presence Capital, QED Investors, Quona Capital, Redpoint Ventures, RRE Ventures, Seven Seven Six, Shrug Capital, Social Capital, Sound Ventures, Spark Capital, Stellar Capital, Tekton Ventures, The Community Fund, Thirty Five Ventures, Vera Equity, XFactor Ventures, Y Combinator, Adam Gross, Adrian Aoun, Andre Mohamed, Brad Bao, Brad Garlinghouse, Brad Handler, Bradley Horowitz, Charles Delingpole, David de Picciotto, Eric Hahn, Gabriel Weinberg, Iqram Magdon-Ismail, Jared Leto, Jason Gardner, Jason Goldberg, Joshua Reeves, Kevin Weil, Mario Gabriele, Mike Krieger, Odell Beckham Jr., Richard Chen, Sam Altman, Scott Belsky, Steven Alan, Tikhon Bernstam, Tom Blomfield, Trevor Noah, Warren Shaeffer, Will Gaybrick
Jun 1, 2021	Maude	$6.0M Series A	—	—
May 1, 2021	Feals	$7.0M Series A	—	—
May 1, 2021	PartnerStack	$29.0M Series B	—	Craft Ventures, Kearny Jackson, Listen, RRE Ventures, Shrug Capital, XFactor Ventures, Brad Handler, Nik Sharma, Steven Alan, Warren Shaeffer
Apr 1, 2021	Small Door	$20.0M Series A	—	Abstract Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Atreides Management, Bain Capital Ventures, Bowery Capital, BoxGroup, Brainchild, Brand Foundry Ventures, Chemistry VC, Commerce Ventures, Creative Juice, Curie.Bio, Divergent Capital, Exponent Founders Capital, FirstMark Capital, Gradient Ventures, IA Ventures, ICONIQ Capital, Kindred Capital VC, Lazerow Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield, NFX, Operator Partners, Primary Venture Partners, Scribble Ventures, The Community Fund, Toba Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, Ben Porterfield, Chris Ahearn, Freada Kapor Klein, Gokul Rajaram, Gwyneth Paltrow, Heidi Zak, Jason Henrichs, Jonathan Neman, Mark Cuban, Mengxi Lu, Moshe Lifschitz, Neill Occhiogrosso, William Hockey, Yumin Choi
Jan 1, 2021	Own Up	$12.0M Series B	—	Alumni Ventures, Brand Foundry Ventures, Divergent Capital, Listen, NextGen Venture Partners, Red Swan Ventures, True Ventures, David Chang, Diane Hessan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Heidi Zak
Oct 1, 2020	Dispo	$4.0M Seed	—	Alumni Ventures, Craft Ventures, Kearny Jackson, Listen, M13, Pareto Holdings, RRE Ventures, Shrug Capital, Ulu Ventures, XFactor Ventures, Brad Handler, Chris M. Willliams, Jared Leto, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nik Sharma, Steven Alan
Nov 1, 2019	Postmoda	$2.0M Seed	—	Altimeter Capital, AngelList, Archetype, Battery Ventures, Coelius Capital, Craft Ventures, Dragoneer Investment Group, Electric Capital, Embedded Ventures, Evening Fund, Gaingels, Ground Up Ventures, Joe Kraus, Hack VC, Homebrew, Hyperplane, Kearny Jackson, Khosla Ventures, Klossy, Listen, Long Journey Ventures, Ludlow Ventures, MaC Venture Capital, Hans Tung, Paradigm, Polychain Capital, Revolution, Rock Health, RRE Ventures, Sand Hill Angels, Scalar Capital, Shrug Capital, Sommet AB, SV Angel, The Hit Forge, Third Kind Ventures, Tiger Global Management, TQ Ventures, Tribe Capital, XFactor Ventures, Amit Gupta, Andrew Keys, Brad Handler, Harry Hurst, Kamiar Kordari, Larry Braitman, Lawrence Braitman, Marc Benioff, Mark Wahlberg, Nik Sharma, Russell Fradin, Russ Fradin, Steve Aoki, Steven Alan, Taz Patel, Terry Dougas, Warren Shaeffer
Jul 1, 2019	Akash Systems	$15.0M Series A	—	Array Ventures, C2 Investment, Craft Ventures, Kearny Jackson, Khosla Ventures, Listen, RRE Ventures, Shrug Capital, Sommet AB, The House Fund, XFactor Ventures, Y Combinator, Ash Pournouri, Brad Handler, Matt Mazzeo, Nik Sharma, Steven Alan, Warren Shaeffer
Mar 1, 2019	Maude	$2.0M Seed	—	Craft Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Fabric Ventures, Kearny Jackson, Play Ventures, RRE Ventures, Shrug Capital, Abe Burns, Eric Seufert, Jas Purewal, Lucas Cranach, Roland Grenke, Rupert Loman, Listen, Nik Sharma, Pareto Holdings, Quiet Capital, Steven Alan, UpHonest Capital, Warren Shaeffer, XFactor Ventures
May 1, 2018	Choosy	$5.0M Seed	—	1/1 Capital, Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners, Craft Ventures, Fabric Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Founder Collective, Haun Ventures, Kearny Jackson, Listen, New Enterprise Associates, Play Ventures, Preston-Werner Ventures, RRE Ventures, Shrug Capital, Solana Ventures, XFactor Ventures, Abe Burns, Brad Handler, Eric Seufert, Jas Purewal, Nik Sharma, Rupert Loman, Steven Alan, Tekin Salimi, Warren Shaeffer, Wayne Chang
Mar 1, 2018	Eden Health	$4.0M Seed	—	645 Ventures, Altari Ventures, BoxGroup, Brand Foundry Ventures, Brighton Park Capital, Cowboy Ventures, Craft Ventures, Jonathan Axelrod, Grace Beauty Capital, Imaginary Ventures, Kearny Jackson, Listen, RRE Ventures, Shrug Capital, Upfront Ventures, XFactor Ventures, Brad Handler, Nik Sharma, Rachel Zoe, Steven Alan, Warren Shaeffer
Jan 1, 2018	Akash Systems	$3.0M Seed	—	11.2 Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Array Ventures, Bond, C2 Investment, Craft Ventures, General Catalyst, Great Oaks Venture Capital, M.G. Siegler, Kearny Jackson, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Listen, Long Journey Ventures, Point Nine Capital, RRE Ventures, Shrug Capital, The House Fund, Tribe Capital, XFactor Ventures, Y Combinator, Brad Handler, Dylan Field, Hiten Shah, Jared Leto, Mathilde Collin, MG Siegler, Mike Krieger, Nik Sharma, Steven Alan, Warren Shaeffer, Yoshinari Yoshikawa
Dec 1, 2017	Choosy	$400K Seed	—	Craft Ventures, Fabric Ventures, Kearny Jackson, Listen, Play Ventures, RRE Ventures, Shrug Capital, XFactor Ventures, Abe Burns, Brad Handler, Eric Seufert, Jas Purewal, Nik Sharma, Rupert Loman, Steven Alan, Warren Shaeffer

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at True Beauty Ventures.

Leadership Team

Key people at True Beauty Ventures.

Deep Dive

High-Level Overview

True Beauty Ventures is a specialized emerging growth investment fund exclusively focused on beauty and wellness brands. Its mission is to transform beauty investing by providing not only capital but also deep sector expertise and partnership to indie brands, aiming to build resilient, long-lasting companies that positively impact the beauty industry. The firm targets emerging brands with proven products and consumer traction, typically investing $1 million to $5 million in companies with around $2 million in revenue. True Beauty Ventures leverages decades of institutional investment experience and operating knowledge to help founders scale their businesses through mentorship, strategic guidance, and extensive industry networks, emphasizing diversity and inclusion by backing BIPOC and women founders and brands addressing underrepresented customer needs[1][2][3][5][7].

Origin Story

Founded in 2020 by Rich Gersten and Cristina Nuñez, True Beauty Ventures emerged from their combined 30+ years of experience in private equity and beauty industry operations. Gersten, with a background at top firms like Tengram Capital Partners, L Catterton, and North Castle Partners, focused on beauty investments for nearly a decade before co-founding True Beauty Ventures to address the underserved emerging growth segment in beauty. Nuñez brought 15 years of CPG and beauty operating experience, including leadership roles at Clark’s Botanicals and Laura Geller Beauty, alongside private equity investing. Their partnership began in 2010 during their time at L Catterton and Tengram Capital. The firm has since raised $42 million for its first fund and $75 million for its second, steadily building a portfolio of innovative beauty and wellness brands[1][2][3][4].

Core Differentiators

Sector Specialization: Sole focus on beauty and wellness, enabling deep expertise and tailored support.
Investment Model: Emerging growth fund investing $1-5 million in brands with proven formulations and consumer loyalty, capping investments to maintain focus and partnership quality.
Operating Expertise: Founders’ combined experience in both investing and operating beauty brands provides hands-on mentorship without day-to-day management.
Network Strength: Extensive industry insider relationships and data-driven insights help portfolio companies scale effectively.
Diversity & Inclusion: Latina-led fund prioritizing BIPOC and women founders, supporting brands that serve underrepresented customers with inclusive products and sustainable practices.
Proven Track Record: Successful investments include K18 Hair, which reversed hair damage and achieved significant returns, and Hung Vanngo’s cosmetics brand launched with Sephora[1][2][3][4][7].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

True Beauty Ventures rides the growing trend of specialized, impact-driven investment funds that combine capital with operational support in niche sectors. The timing aligns with increasing consumer demand for inclusive, sustainable, and efficacious beauty products, as well as a market shift toward indie brands challenging legacy players. By focusing on underrepresented founders and customers, the firm addresses gaps in traditional beauty investing and contributes to a more diverse and innovative ecosystem. Its approach exemplifies how sector expertise and partnership can unlock value in emerging brands, influencing broader venture capital trends toward specialization and impact[2][3][7].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Looking ahead, True Beauty Ventures is poised to expand its influence by continuing to back innovative beauty and wellness brands that prioritize inclusivity and sustainability. The firm’s second fund, larger than the first, signals confidence in its model and the sector’s growth potential. Trends such as clean beauty, personalized products, and digital-native brand growth will likely shape its portfolio strategy. As consumer preferences evolve, True Beauty Ventures’ deep industry knowledge and commitment to founder partnership position it to remain a key player in scaling the next generation of beauty leaders, further transforming the investment landscape in this dynamic sector[3][4][7].

Sources

High-Level Overview

Origin Story

Core Differentiators

Sector Specialization: Sole focus on beauty and wellness, enabling deep expertise and tailored support.
Investment Model: Emerging growth fund investing $1-5 million in brands with proven formulations and consumer loyalty, capping investments to maintain focus and partnership quality.
Operating Expertise: Founders’ combined experience in both investing and operating beauty brands provides hands-on mentorship without day-to-day management.
Network Strength: Extensive industry insider relationships and data-driven insights help portfolio companies scale effectively.
Diversity & Inclusion: Latina-led fund prioritizing BIPOC and women founders, supporting brands that serve underrepresented customers with inclusive products and sustainable practices.
Proven Track Record: Successful investments include K18 Hair, which reversed hair damage and achieved significant returns, and Hung Vanngo’s cosmetics brand launched with Sephora[1][2][3][4][7].