What Prelude Growth Partners does

Prelude Growth Partners is a New York-based, female-founded and female-led growth equity firm founded in 2017 by Neda Daneshzadeh (formerly a Partner at L Catterton for 12 years) and Alicia Sontag (formerly Global President of Beauty at Johnson & Johnson, with prior executive tenure at Estée Lauder). The firm invests $15 million to $75 million per deal in high-growth, founder-led consumer brands across beauty and personal care, health and wellness, food and beverage, pet, and adjacent consumer product and service categories. Prelude's stated approach is high-conviction and high-support: it takes concentrated positions in roughly two new brands per year and partners actively with founders on strategic decision-making, talent acquisition, and operational execution, rather than overriding their vision. The firm's go-to-market is relationship-driven and selective, sourcing through founder networks, industry events, and a portfolio reputation that has produced five notable exits to date.

Prelude has raised three funds since inception: Fund I ($80M, 2018), Fund II ($250M, 2021), and Fund III ($600M, August 2025), bringing total committed capital to $930M and total assets under management to approximately $1.3 billion. The firm has partnered with roughly 16 consumer brands, including active positions in Westman Atelier, Perelel, KilgourMD, OneSkin, Tower 28, Banza, MadeGood, Blueland, Amylu, Fly By Jing, dpHUE, 8Greens, Bachan's, Skin Pharm, and the Center platform, alongside exited positions in Sol de Janeiro (acquired by L'Occitane), Naturium (acquired by e.l.f. Beauty for $355M), Summer Fridays (sold to TSG Consumer Partners at approximately $700M valuation), Phlur (acquired by TSG), and So Good So You (acquired by Bansk Group). Revenue is generated through management fees on committed capital plus carried interest on successful exits, and the firm is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Name

Prelude Growth Partners

Legal name

Prelude Growth Partners

Website

https://preludegrowth.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Prelude Growth Partners is a New York-based, female-founded growth equity firm founded in 2017 that invests $15M-$75M per deal in high-growth, founder-led consumer brands across beauty, health and wellness, food and beverage, and adjacent categories, managing approximately $1.3 billion across three funds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Growth Equity Investment Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (523150)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Sector / Generalist Growth Equity (FSANACAO)

Keywords

• Growth equity investing
• Consumer brand investment
• Private equity firm
• Growth capital funding
• Consumer products investment

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Fund Management: Prelude Growth Partners generates revenue through management fees charged on committed capital under management, plus carried interest (performance fees) from successful fund exits. The firm has raised three funds: Fund I ($80M, 2018), Fund II ($250M, 2021), and Fund III ($600M, 2025), managing total assets of approximately $1.3 billion.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Prelude Growth Partners is a private growth equity firm that provides growth capital (typically $15M-$75M per deal) and hands-on value-added operating support to high-growth, founder-led consumer brands across beauty & personal care, health & wellness, food & beverage, and adjacent consumer categories. The firm partners with approximately two brands per year, deploying capital from its three closed funds (totaling $930M) and offering strategic decision-making support, A+ talent acquisition assistance, and flawless execution capabilities through its team and operating advisor bench.

Product overview

Prelude Growth Partners is a consumer-focused growth equity firm that provides capital and value-add support to high-growth consumer brands. The firm operates as a single investment platform rather than a product-based architecture, partnering with portfolio companies across beauty & personal care, health & wellness, food & beverage, and consumer services. Their portfolio brands span multiple categories including luxury clean beauty (Westman Atelier), women's health vitamins (Perelel), clinical skincare (OneSkin, Skin Pharm), sensitive skin beauty (Tower 28), sustainable household care (Blueland), better-for-you foods (Banza, MadeGood, Fly By Jing), global condiments (Bachan's), functional beverages (So Good So You), and fine fragrance (Phlur). The firm typically invests $15 million to $75 million per deal and has exited brands including Sol de Janeiro (acquired by L'Occitane), Summer Fridays (TSG Consumer), and Naturium (e.l.f. Beauty).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Prelude Growth Partners Fund I Debut consumer-focused growth equity fund closed in 2018 with $80 million in committed capital from institutional LPs including university endowments and charitable foundations, used to provide growth capital and value-added operating support to high-growth, high-potential consumer brands.
• Prelude Growth Partners Fund II Second growth equity fund closed at $250 million hard cap in 2021, investing in high-growth, founder-led consumer brands across health and wellness, beauty and personal care, food and beverage, pet, and other consumer product and service companies with typical deal sizes of $15M to $75M.
• Prelude Growth Partners Fund III Third growth equity fund closed at its $600 million hard cap in August 2025, significantly oversubscribed and closed in under three months, investing $15M-$75M per deal in high-growth consumer businesses across beauty & personal care, food & beverage, health & wellness, pet, and other consumer categories. Limited partners include endowments, foundations, pension funds, financial institutions, and family offices.
• Value-Add Operating Support Services Bespoke operating partnership services provided alongside growth equity capital to portfolio brands, including strategic decision-making support, A+ talent acquisition assistance via Head of Talent and operating advisor network, and execution support leveraging Prelude's team and operating advisor bench (former CEOs of KIND Snacks, Health-Ade, Sol de Janeiro, Pet Honesty, and others).

Quantifiable outcome

• Fund III raised $600 million at hard cap, oversubscribed, in under 3 months
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 March 2025The Center is a beauty accelerator platform founded by Ben Bennett that has partnered with Prelude on multiple brands including Naturium, Phlur, and others. The Center brands have been part of Prelude's portfolio.
• Proskauer Rose LLPminorOthers · 1 July 2023Served as legal counsel for Prelude Growth Partners Fund III.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• TSG Consumer Partners: TSG Consumer Partners is a consumer-focused private equity firm that invests in branded consumer products companies. It is a direct peer of Prelude Growth Partners — both target similar growth-stage consumer brands across beauty, wellness, food & beverage, and have transacted together (Phlur, Summer Fridays).
• Alliance Consumer Growth: Alliance Consumer Growth (ACG) is a growth equity firm that invests exclusively in consumer brands, providing growth capital and operating support. It is a direct peer to Prelude — both pursue minority/structured growth equity investments in high-growth consumer brands with similar check sizes.
• CAVU Consumer Partners: CAVU Consumer Partners is a growth equity firm investing in consumer brands with category leadership potential. It is a direct peer to Prelude, with comparable thesis around providing capital and operating support to founder-led consumer brands.
• Imaginary Ventures: Imaginary Ventures is a consumer-focused venture and growth firm co-founded by Natalie Massenet. It is a direct peer of Prelude, having co-invested in Westman Atelier, and both firms target similar early-to-growth stage consumer brands in beauty and lifestyle.
• VMG Partners: VMG Partners is a growth equity firm focused on consumer brands, providing capital and operating resources to category-leading companies. It is a direct peer to Prelude with overlapping focus on beauty, food, and wellness consumer brands.
• Encore Consumer Capital: Encore Consumer Capital is a private equity firm investing in lower-middle market consumer brands. It is comparable to Prelude as both invest in growth-stage consumer companies with operational involvement, though Encore typically targets smaller, more mature businesses.
• Bansk Group: Bansk Group is a consumer-focused investment firm that recently acquired Prelude's stake in So Good So You. It is comparable to Prelude as both invest in and operate within the consumer growth equity space, and have directly transacted.
• Willow Growth Partners: Willow Growth Partners is a consumer-focused growth equity firm that has co-invested with Prelude in Perelel, KilgourMD, and OneSkin. It is a direct peer pursuing similar founder-led consumer brand investments in beauty, wellness, and household categories.
• Selva Ventures: Selva Ventures is a consumer-focused venture capital firm that has co-invested with Prelude in OneSkin and Perelel. It is comparable to Prelude as both target high-growth consumer brands with founder-friendly capital structures.

Broad incumbents

• L Catterton: L Catterton is the largest consumer-focused private equity firm globally, managing tens of billions in AUM across multiple strategies. It is a direct peer to Prelude — both invest in growth-stage consumer brands — and Prelude's co-founder Neda Daneshzadeh was previously a Partner at L Catterton for 12 years.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/prelude-growth-partners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments15 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Prelude Growth Partners