Bridge Mentorship Selects Lendava Skincare, Rose Ingleton MD Skin And Squigs Beauty For First 2023 Cohort

Three brands are kicking off the year by getting the inside track on the fundraising process.

Lendava Skincare, Rose Ingleton MD Skin and Squigs Beauty have been selected for the first 2023 cohort of Bridge Mentorship, a program created by early-stage beauty and wellness investment firm True Beauty Ventures in partnership with Beauty Independent. They were picked from over 100 applicants to participate in the program.

Cristina Nuñez, general partner and co-founder of TBV, which has Crown Affair, Aquis, K18, Maude, Kinship, Moon Juice and Cay Skin in its portfolio, and Rich Gersten, managing partner and co-founder of TBV, believe Lendava, Rose Ingleton MD and Squigs are at the forefront of beauty industry innovation, have exceptional branding, and speak to broad trends such as dermatologist-backed products, eco-consciousness, clean beauty and minimalist skincare routines.

Nikita Charuza, former fashion editor at Popsugar, launched Squigs last year with Ayurveda-inspired head care. Priscila Fadul, an engineer by trade whose family has a history in the beauty business, introduced Lendava last year, too, with body care and facial skincare. Dermatologist Rosemarie Ingleton founded her namesake skincare brand in 2019. 

“This cohort is listening to their consumers and delivering great product,” says Nuñez. “Now, we hope to help these founders focus on the fundamentals that will help them get funding from investors, while also giving them the playbooks and tools to build strong businesses along the way.” 

When choosing brands for Bridge Mentorship, Nuñez and Gersten assess the value TBV can provide them and the value they provide each other. They aim for cohorts with a range of perspectives, wins and opportunities. Nuñez says, “By diversifying the growth stages, categories and challenges, we think the mentees can benefit from not only the individual experiences they will each have with TBV, but also the communal one.” 

Charuza has participated in Ulta Beauty’s Muse Accelerator and Tower 28’s Clean Beauty Summer School, but underscores she still has much to learn about the financial aspects of the beauty industry, especially as she’s forecasting high growth from upcoming retail partnerships. Squigs has two products: Gooseberry Delight Hair Oil and Double Shot Face Serum. 

Ingleton applied to Bridge Mentorship because building a lasting skincare brand is much different than managing a New York City dermatology practice. She says, “While I have been a practicing dermatologist for over 20 years, I am new to building a beauty brand, so the expertise of Rich and Cristina will be incredibly valuable as our brand enters its next phase of growth and pursues outside investment.”

Rose Ingleton MD has a suite of customizable skincare solutions targeted toward consumers with melanin-rich skin while being transcultural. The products are infused with a proprietary Jamaican superfruit blend. Ingleton says, “My ability to combine my clinical knowledge with my Caribbean upbringing provides me with a unique perspective on formulation.” Rose Ingleton MD is carried by Sephora, Neiman Marcus and Revolve. 

Latinx-founded Lendava taps biotechnology to develop sustainably minded and efficacious products, including bestselling face cream Good Morning and retinol-driven body lotion Body Care. The products are available on the brand’s website and Verishop. Fadul hopes to gain guidance on Lendava’s growth strategy during the Bridge Mentorship program, particularly as it relates to retail partnerships and marketing. 

Started in January 2022, Bridge Mentorship’s six-month program features a structured curriculum and tailored action plans designed to foster meaningful personal and professional development to ready beauty and wellness entrepreneurs for institutional funding. The first cohort of the year will run from January to June, and the second will run from July to December.

“Rich and Cristina are recognized experts who can identify the challenges beauty entrepreneurs face and understand the tools and strategies that provide the best chances of success. These insights can and have made a huge difference to brands,” says Nader Naeymi-Rad, publisher of Beauty Independent and founder of Beauty Independent parent company Indie Beauty Media Group. “From lowering COGS and margins to providing introductions to new partners, Bridge Mentorship sets brands up to succeed long term.”

He continues that TBV opted to work with Beauty Independent on Bridge Mentorship because the publication is “on the pulse of what is happening in all stages of beauty, from core concepts for emerging brands to the happenings well-funded entities need to understand.”

TBV and Beauty Independent meet regularly to dissect feedback from past mentees and evolve Bridge Mentorship. The past mentee brands are Youthforia, Nette, World of Chris Collins, Nature of Things, Plantkos and Nopalera, which recently secured $2.7 million in seed funding. 

Bridge Mentorship has evolved to have greater time in between the diagnostic and action planning phases to allow founders ample time to interact with TBV and one another before executing upon their brands’ roadmaps. In addition to TBV’s mentorship, cohort brands have sessions arranged by the firm with industry experts such as lawyers and third-party logistics specialists that are relevant to their brands. 

Nuñez says, “We learned that focus is the most important lesson for many of these earlier stage brands. We have evolved our program to ensure we work with the founders to narrow down their top priorities and help them identify the key actions needed to achieve them.” 

She points out that every founder varies in terms of their preparedness, style and bandwidth, and Bridge Mentorship doesn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach. “Our sessions must adapt to the founder’s level of knowledge and effectiveness,” says Nuñez. “Office hours are a great way to help them unpack areas where they may need more hand-holding and a combination of structured programming plus free-flowing one-on-one sessions seems to be the best process.” 

Maintaining relationships and communication post-Bridge Mentorship is very important to the founders, according to Nuñez. Founders regularly stay in touch with her and Gersten via Slack and email. Mentees are invited to meet with TBV and members of the Beauty Independent team throughout the year. In-person meetups are slated for 2023 to cultivate a sense of community between past and present mentees.  

“We are seeing our past mentees become mentors themselves as other indie beauty founders seek advice from their learnings and accomplishments,” says Nuñez. “It is really wonderful to see them pass the torch of knowledge, experiences and connections. The beauty industry needs to be more about sharing and collaboration versus competition, and our mentees certainly embody that spirit.” 

Applications for Bridge Mentorship’s second 2023 cohort will open in June. Join Bridge Mentorship mentees and TBV on May 17 at 1 p.m. EST for a special episode of the Beauty Independent’s In Conversation webinar series to recap lessons participants have learned from the program.