KJH Brand, Sahajan and Educated Mess have been chosen for the first 2025 cohort of Bridge Mentorship, a program from True Beauty Ventures and Beauty Independent to equip emerging beauty brands with strategies for fundraising and scaling.
In evaluating candidates for Bridge Mentorship, Rich Gersten, co-founder and managing partner at TBV, an early-stage beauty and wellness investment firm with Crown Affair, K18, Maude, Kinship, Moon Juice, Cay Skin, Sofie Pavitt Face and Youthforia, the latter two of which are Bridge Mentorship graduates, in its portfolio, was drawn to brands led by founders who are proven experts in their field, have cultivated an audience and bring passion to every aspect of their business, from product development to community building.
“These brands deliver on product, creating innovative solutions that address unmet consumer needs and stand out for their efficacy and uniqueness,” says Gersten. “They’ve all built organic, deeply loyal communities through empowering consumers with the kind of education and transparency consumers seek out today.”
Bridge Mentorship’s 2025 program gets underway as the beauty industry is gearing up for increased dealmaking. Beauty M&A was stagnant in 2024, marked by budget-tightening strategics, cautious private equity firms and hesitant sellers. “Great brands with solid fundamentals can still attract capital and remain attractive trade opportunities when the time is right,” says Cristina Nuñez, general partner and co-founder of TBV. “Our advice? Focus on building the business—strengthen your foundation, refine your strategy, and stay the course.”
The slowdown in strategic activity has had a ripple effect, making funding more competitive even at earlier stages. However, Gersten is optimistic about a rebound, predicting that strategics will reenter the market in 2025 to fill portfolio gaps and offset slowed organic growth within their current brand rosters. He says, “Strategics who traditionally rely on M&A to drive growth are likely to return to the table, eager to capitalize on high-potential brands with strong fundamentals.”
KJH Brand founder and makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes’ large and loyal following on social media caught Nuñez’s eye. She has 445,000 followers and 4.7 million likes on TikTok and 939,000 followers on Instagram. “She shares the best tips and tricks in the industry,” says Nuñez. “Her emphasis on making makeup artistry more accessible has clearly resonated with followers and translates to every attribute of her brand.”
Hughes has bootstrapped her color cosmetics brand since its launch in 2023. Its product lineup is designed to educate and empower individuals to discover what works best for their unique features. As an editorial and red carpet makeup artist, her clients include Dua Lipa and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
Hughes made news last year with a partnership with Cosmetica. She was the face of a digital campaign from the contract manufacturer and disclosed she’s developing KJH products made by the manufacturer, an unusual move because brands typically keep their contract manufacturers secret out of fear their competitors will try to copy their products.
During the six-month Bridge Mentorship program, Hughes hopes to gain insight into what her brand’s capital needs could be as it scales and guidance on honing a strategy for entering a major retailer in 2026.
After years of formulating for top brands in the industry, Educated Mess co-founder and cosmetic chemist Alex Padgett became frustrated by the lack of beauty innovation and the slow adoption of high-tech ingredients. Educated Mess’s hero product is Golden Hour Gold-Stabilized Vitamin C Serum, and its Freeze Frame Peptide Serum Concentrate has been getting social media notice of late.
Educated Mess is setting itself apart with a no-nonsense approach to information and a commitment to education and transparency. The brand has nearly 20,000 followers on Instagram. Padgett has 175,000 followers on her personal TikTok account.
Caroline Weintraub, Vice President at True Beauty Ventures says: “We see the unique combination of an expert founder able to cultivate a trusting, loyal community on social and a more approachable and authentic voice in clinical skincare as a great recipe for success within the category.”
Catherine Dini, co-founder and CEO of Educated Mess, says, “We believe we have exceptional products, a strong vision and immense growth potential ahead, and our goal is to navigate this journey as efficiently and strategically as possible. Additionally, we hope to identify a long-term capital partner who shares our bold vision and ambitious growth goals for Educated Mess.”
Lisa Mattam, founder and CEO of Sahajan and a former pharmaceutical marketing executive, created Sahajan to hold a differentiated position in the Ayurvedic skincare market by appealing to customers seeking natural ingredients and proven results. Available at Sephora Canada, Sahajan was a member of the first cohort of Sephora Accelerate and the first Ayurvedic brand at Credo. In addition, it’s the only Ayurvedic brand in the rooms at various hotels, including The Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, W Hotels and St. Regis properties.
Sahajan was bootstrapped for eight years following its launch in 2015. The brand has raised a total of $2 million in funding from about 40 angel investors and family offices, including Ridgeline Ventures. Today, Mattam says, “We are at a critical period in our journey as I navigate expanding our relationship with Sephora, add talent to my team and lean into strategies to bolster our awareness.”
Since its 2022 debut, 18 beauty and wellness brands have participated in Bridge Mentorship. Among them are Nopalera, Nette, Nature of Things, Plantkos, World of Chris Collins, Squigs Beauty, Rose Ingleton MD Skin, Lendava Skincare, DAMDAM Tokyo, Viktor Michael, Salwa Petersen, Sofie Pavitt Face, Dr. Idriss, Prakti, Lightsaver, Lion Pose and Miss Rizos.
Each participant is instructed to come the program with questions specific to their businesses involving distribution, talent, marketing and more. They leave with comprehensive diagnostic and action plans to put them on course to take on institutional funding at the right moment.
The program for the first cohort of 2025 extends from January to June. On May 28, Bridge Mentorship mentees and TBV mentors will be featured on a special episode of Beauty Independent’s In Conversation webinar series to review learnings from it. Applications for the second cohort of 2025 will open in June.
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