Our Story
Our Story
A New Model for Consumer Brands
We launched &vest to create a new-to-market platform that combined financial investment with creative and operational capabilities, all underpinned by an entrepreneurial spirit that carries through all of our deals.
Venture Consumer Investing
We began by backing emerging consumer brands and adding our unique marketing capabilities to help them scale.
JINX
We invested in the seed round and developed the brand positioning, strategy and look and feel of Millennial pet brand JiNX, which has now become one of the fastest growing pet brands in the world.
Think Jinx →Beauty Labs
We incubated a forward-thinking beauty technology company that was ultimately sold to a public company, Amyris — proving our knack for uncovering and accelerating high-potential ideas and our knowledge of the beauty sector.
Press Release →FAST Acquisition Corp I and II
We led two hospitality-focused SPACs (FAST I and FAST II), designed to invest in businesses poised to capitalize on the post-COVID “repoening”. FAST I’s $8.7B deal with Fertitta Entertainment ultimately terminated, while FAST II successfully took Falcons Beyond public in October 2023. Both vehicles differentiated from competitors with our entrepreneur and operator-led teams.
Proving Out Our Operating Concept
In 2023, we fully applied our operator-forward model to new market opportunities at scale.
Forma Brands
Alongside Jefferies, Cerberus, and MassMutual, we assumed operational control of Forma Brands as it emerged from restructuring with the objective of turning around Morphe. A one-time beauty darling, Morphe was beset by operational missteps and lacked focused direction. We’ve worked side-by-side with management and ownership to provide unwavering leadership with the brand now re-assuming its role as a category leader.
A Unique Ownership-Consultancy Hybrid
We apply our operational capabilities both as 3rd party advisors as well as principal owners. Our vast expertise in consumer, specifically beauty, hospitality, wellness and lifestyle - as well as our focus on brand demand and unique team structure, has us poised to shape the future of consumer brands.
