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Natureza
Gentil and Eckles launched Natureza out of Greenwich, unconstrained by a single-family capital base and instead running a generalist consumer...
Natureza
Gentil and Eckles launched Natureza out of Greenwich, unconstrained by a single-family capital base and instead running a generalist consumer growth-equity mandate. Gentil brought cross-border operating rhythm from AB InBev finance roles in St. Louis, New York, and Shanghai, while Eckles spent six years inside the Rose Rock Group, first in its venture arm and then building the family office’s Asia platform. They combined those experiences to create a firm that mimics an operator-heavy family office but funds itself as a private equity shop. The firm concentrates on food and beverage, household and personal care, lifestyle brands and specialty retail, and consumer services. It uses equity and convertible debt, typically investing $3 million or more in companies generating at least $5 million in annualized revenue at the Series A and B stages. Portfolio composition confirms a bias toward repeat-purchase categories with brand loyalty moats—plant-based foods (Tiny Organics, Rebellyous Foods), better-for-you alcohol (Jiant), clean-label household products (Cleancult), and specialty retail concepts including Dormify and Myodetox. Named co-investors or exited positions include Hungryroot, Ring, and Laird, indicating a willingness to back digitally native vertical brands through to exit. Team depth comes from a mix of M&A-trained investors and installed operating partners. Joe Tonnos serves as a Managing Director at Roth Capital Partners and co-founded Ketch Ventures, while Clyde Tuggle, a former Coca-Cola Senior Vice President and Executive Committee member, operates as a dedicated Operating Partner for portfolio companies. The firm has not publicly disclosed total AUM or deployment figures. The most recent observable operational signal is the 2023 copyright date across the firm’s digital properties and the active roster of 22 current portfolio companies displayed on its site. Natureza’s structural distinction is its operator-heavy co-investment model that places former Fortune 500 line executives directly onto portfolio company boards. Gentil and Eckles sit on the boards of companies including Windmill, Jiant, and Cabinet Health, while Tuggle brings real-world shelf-space negotiation experience from Coca-Cola’s global distribution machine. The arrangement resembles the embedded-operating-partner architecture of a well-staffed single-family office but is offered to external entrepreneurs on a deal-by-deal basis, without the multi-generational wealth-consolidation horizon that defines a true SFO.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Greenwich
Corporate office
Greenwich, CT, United States
Principals
Fernando Gentil
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Collin Eckles
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Joe Tonnos
Managing Director at Roth Capital Partners and co-founder of Ketch Ventures
Clyde Tuggle
Operating Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Natureza?
Co-founders and Managing Partners Fernando Gentil and Collin Eckles lead investment decisions. Gentil previously held finance roles at AB InBev in the US and China after starting his career in M&A at Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan’s Private Bank. Eckles spent six years at the Rose Rock Group, first in its venture arm and then building the family office’s Asia platform. The firm does not disclose an investment committee beyond the named managing partners.
How does Natureza source proprietary deal flow?
Natureza’s sourcing draws on the co-founders’ combined networks inside consumer packaged goods, international family-office capital, and investment banking. The presence of Operating Partner Clyde Tuggle, a former Coca-Cola Senior Vice President, gives the firm direct lines into beverage and retail distribution ecosystems. The firm focuses on consumer categories where brand-founder relationships and category-specific operational expertise serve as a proprietary filter.
Does Natureza operate as a single family office or a traditional private equity firm?
Natureza is structured as a private equity firm—its legal entity is Natureza GP LLC—and markets itself as a growth-equity firm. It does not serve as a single-family office for any disclosed wealth origin. However, its hands-on, board-heavy operating model and the background of co-founder Collin Eckles in a family office (Rose Rock Group) give it some behavioral characteristics of an SFO deploying third-party capital.
Does Natureza participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
The firm states it makes direct equity and convertible-debt investments into consumer companies, primarily at Series A and B. There is no public disclosure of fund-of-fund commitments or LP positions in other private equity vehicles, indicating a strategy concentrated on direct principal investments.
What investment stages does Natureza typically target?
Natureza targets Series A and B rounds for companies with at least $5 million in annualized revenue. The firm’s check size starts at roughly $3 million, positioning it as an early growth-stage investor rather than a seed-stage or late-stage buyout shop. This stage focus aims to capture the scaling phase after proof of concept but before mass retail expansion.
Are there known sector exclusions or negative screens in Natureza’s investment policy?
No formal negative screens or sector exclusions are published. The firm’s stated concentration is on food and beverage, household and personal care, lifestyle brands and specialty retail, and consumer services. The absence of any industrial, deep-tech, or financial-services portfolio companies across 22 active positions implies a de facto exclusive focus on branded consumer goods and services.
How is Natureza’s team structured beyond the named managing partners?
Public records and the firm’s website name four individuals: Co-Founders Fernando Gentil and Collin Eckles, Operating Partner Clyde Tuggle, and an affiliated investor Joe Tonnos. No additional investment professionals, analysts, or back-office staff are listed, suggesting a lean senior team that relies heavily on operating partners and board-level engagement rather than a large in-house deal-sourcing apparatus.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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