Rich Gersten

Co-Founder & Managing Partner at True Beauty Ventures · Joined 2020

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Biography

Rich Gersten is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of True Beauty Ventures, a specialist fund backing emerging beauty and wellness brands from Seed to Series B. He has spent roughly three decades investing in consumer brands at private equity firms including North Castle Partners, Catterton Partners (now L Catterton) and Tengram Capital Partners, with much of the last decade focused on beauty and personal care. His early personal care investments included Avalon Organics and Alba Botanica. In 2020 he left Tengram to launch True Beauty, co-founding the firm with Cristina Nuñez to serve emerging brands underserved by institutional capital, and led its investment in K18, acquired by Unilever. He holds a BS in Economics from Union College and an MBA from Wharton.

Education

Previous Experience

Notable Investments

K18Avalon OrganicsAlba Botanica

Career Timeline

1999
Joins North Castle Partners, where he serves as Managing Director until 2007.
2020
Departs Tengram Capital Partners and launches the specialist beauty investment firm that becomes True Beauty Ventures.
2021
Closes True Beauty Ventures' debut fund in excess of $42 million.
2023
Portfolio brand K18 is acquired by Unilever, reportedly returning close to 80 percent of Fund I's capital.

Sources & References

True Beauty Ventures team page ↗Kisaco Research speaker bio ↗WWD: Beauty Investor Rich Gersten Launches Venture Fund (2020) ↗Fashionista founder interview (2025) ↗