Richard Gersten, one of the earliest investors in the beauty category, has left Tengram Capital Partners to strike out on his own.
Gersten is starting True Beauty Capital LLC, a new private equity firm that aims to do deals in the beauty, wellness and personal-care spaces.
While Gersten has formally left Tengram, where he was a partner, he will continue to consult with the firm and work with his portfolio companies: Cos Bar, Lime Crime, Algenist and ReVive.
Gersten joined Tengram in 2011 after spending four years at Catterton. Before that, he was at North Castle Partners, where he did his first beauty deals in the early Aughts — Avalon Organics and Alba.
He is widely known in the beauty industry as one of the earliest investors. At Tengram, aside from his current portfolio companies, Gersten also backed This Works, DevaCurl, Laura Geller and Nest.
"I have been fortunate to have had successful partnerships with so many founders and ceo's in the beauty industry. With True Beauty, I will be able to leverage my experience and relationships to do what I truly love — focus exclusively on the beauty, wellness and personal-care categories across all investment types and stages," Gersten said in a statement.
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