When industry insider Ben Bennett quietly debuted the clean skincare company Naturium on Amazon in the fall of 2019, he had an inkling that the brand had just the right formula to be the next standout beauty blockbuster. Bennett, founder and CEO of beauty brand incubator The Center and previously at HatchBeauty, has been instrumental in launching and acquiring a slew of successful brands over the course of his career, so he knew a good thing when he saw it.

A few months later, co-founder Susan Yara, a social media personality and beauty influencer, formerly launched Naturium’s DTC business on the brand’s website. With products ranging from $12-$25, consumers quickly recognized the strong value proposition for affordable, high-quality, ingredient-led skincare products.

It wasn’t long before Naturium caught the eye of Target. And when the brand was presented with a unique opportunity for an exclusive partnership with Target, Yara and Bennett knew they couldn’t pass it up. They knew a partnership like that would deliver explosive growth, but also recognized the risks of having a 100% concentration of their business with a single retailer.

“Finding financing that would support the kind of growth strategy we were pursuing is never easy,” said Bennett. “More traditional financial institutions didn’t necessarily share our vision, nor were they willing to take on that kind of risk.”

Bennett connected with Rosenthal & Rosenthal, an 84-year-old family-owned financing company with strong relationships in the beauty sector, to explore financing options. As an independent alternative financing firm, Rosenthal saw the incredible potential of the Target partnership and understood that partnerships like these could be key to building strong and resilient brands, especially in the beauty space. Rosenthal quickly stepped in, providing funding to support Naturium’s growing capital needs.

“We supported Naturium full board from the beginning of their Target journey,” said Maria Contino, EVP and Western Region Sales Manager at Rosenthal. “Knowing the industry the way we do, we knew that having a shot at making the brand more accessible to more consumers would be a gamechanger.”