True Beauty Ventures’ Cristina Nuñez: 'We want to be relationship builders'

As the barrier to founding a beauty brand is lower than ever, there is also more opportunity to spot the next big thing earlier in brands' life cycles.

Private equity firm True Beauty Ventures "was really born out of a frustration ... and being restricted on the types of businesses [we] could invest in," said TBV co-founder and general partner Cristina Nuñez on the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast.

Nuñez, the former gm and COO of Clark's Botanicals, had been approached by her co-founder, Rich Gersten, about building a beauty- and wellness-specific firm that could invest at the earliest stage. "[Prior, Rich] couldn't invest in any brand without a minimum check of $10 [million] or $20 million," she said.

True Beauty Ventures' sweet spot is between the $1 million and $3 million check size, and it has the goal of further supporting brands with more capital as they grow. Since founding True Beauty Ventures at the height of the pandemic, Nuñez and Gersten have invested in emerging brands like K18, Maude and Crown Affair, and best-in-class brands further along in their journey like Moon Juice.