Prakti, Sofie Pavitt Face And Dr. Idriss's Biggest Lessons From The Bridge Mentorship Program

For beauty investors, gross margin is the current reigning metric for brand evaluation. “Gross margin we believe is equivalent to capital efficiency in today’s world, where you’re spending your dollars from a marketing perspective and eventually what the path is to becoming profitable,” says Cristina Nuñez, co-founder and general partner at beauty and wellness-focused investment firm True Beauty Ventures.

That’s just one of the many points drilled into the minds of the founders in the fifth cohort of Bridge Mentorship, a six-month program readying emerging beauty brands for funding that TBV and Beauty Independent launched in 2022. Those founders—Prakti’s Pritika Swarup, Sofie Pavitt Face’s Sofie Pavitt and Dr. Idriss’s Shereen Idris—joined Nuñez and TBV co-founder and managing partner Rich Gersten for an In Conversation webinar last week recapping learnings from the program.

During the program, brands undergo a diagnostic process similar to the due diligence they would undergo when pursuing funding. The process examines key business areas like brand positioning, finances, distribution and scalability. Once it’s completed, TBV, which has K18, BeautyStat, Crown Affair, Youthforia, Caliray, Vacation and Dieux in its portfolio, creates action plans for the cohort members to establish goals and measure progress.

While there’s no single right way to scale, in its action plans for brands, TBV typically steers them toward an omnichannel distribution approach anchored by a major retail relationship. Nuñez says, “If one does not exist, how can we help them figure out who that core partner should be that could really help them scale?”

Applications for Bride Mentorship’s second cohort of 2024 and sixth cohort overall opened on May 29 and will close June 14. Three brands will be selected for the cohort, and they will be revealed in July. To be eligible for the program, brands have to be headquartered in North America, at least six months old and generate annual sales of $250,000 or above.

In choosing brands for Bridge Mentorship, Gersten says TBV is drawn to passionate, credible founders, strong social media followings and engaged communities. It helps if brands are in a trending category, too. Both Idriss and Swarup have more than 1 million followers on Instagram. An aesthetician, Pavitt leveraged her studio during the pandemic to build a virtual treatment offering. Gersten mentions that Ayurvedic and clinical skincare are two fast-growing categories in beauty, and that the acne category is ripe for disruption.

Below, we highlight top takeaways from the fifth cohort’s experience.

Dr. Idriss

Year Launched: 2022
Category: Skincare
Positioning: Dr. Idriss is a collection of science-backed skincare solutions by dermatologist Shereene Idriss. She’s on a mission to demystify the world of skincare and cosmetic procedures and has for years posted myth-busting social media videos from her bed, making her known as the #PillowtalkDerm. She’s amassed a global audience of over 3 million fans.
Price range: $30 to $58
Hero product: Major Fade Solution System
Current distribution: DTC, Sephora

Dr. Idriss launched on Sephora shelves in March, and it’s keen on nurturing its domestic business at the retailer at the moment rather than looking abroad. Focusing on maintaining organic momentum and striking while the iron is hot by deepening the partnership with Sephora is paramount. Gersten says, “One of the benefits is that Sephora can take you global when it’s the right time.”

Dr. Idriss’s priorities are also to keep refining its positioning to further differentiate from others at Sephora and ensure it has an identify of its own to not rely on Idriss’s social media following. Idriss says she’s “really honing in on something very specific rather than being a jack of all trades and a master of none.”

Prakti

Year Launched: 2022
Category: Skincare
Positioning: Prakti is an award-winning beauty and wellness brand that combines science-backed innovation with time-trusted Ayurvedic ingredients to craft clinically effective, clean skincare products that deliver instant results and create an immersive wellness experience.
Price Range: $38 to $65
Hero product: PritiPolish Instant Glow Exfoliator
Current Distribution: DTC, Goop

Bridge Mentorship opened Swarup’s eyes up to the extensive resources necessary, from estate planning managers to logistics and operations providers, to maintain a brand’s momentum. She says, “Even when you don’t feel like your brand is ready for something, just having the opportunity to connect with people and know that they’re there when you need them just gives you this different level of confidence.”

Moving forward, Prakti will work to strengthen the messaging around its ingredient philosophy and the efficacy of its products. The brand launched with Goop in April and is in talks with more retailers. Exploring the best fits for future retail partnerships was a big part of the brand’s tenure in the Bridge Mentorship program.

Swarup says, “Figure out what’s the right direction, what you’re able to fully execute and not only launch, but really support that launch, you realize that you do have to make hard decisions because you can’t do everything…[Be] specific with your efforts because you know that, if you take that step, then you must succeed.”

Sofie Pavitt Face

Year Launched: 2023
Category: Skincare
Positioning: Sofie Pavitt Face is the New York-based skincare expert and licensed aesthetician’s bespoke line of skincare products that brings Pavitt’s customized approach out of the studio and onto top shelves. The collection is an intentional edit of products designed to minimize needless steps and maximize real results for problematic skin.
Price range: $34 to $68
Hero product: Mandelic Serum
Current distribution: DTC, Violet Grey, Goop

Pavitt and TBV zeroed in on ways her fresh take on acne care can be propelled by growing her team, which now stands at one, and drilling down on the proper time to enter retail and fundraise. Advising Pavitt, Gersten says, “Increase your overall brand awareness, and get ready for retail expansion. We know it’s coming. You have the opportunity, in our view, to own that prestige acne category.”