Venture Capital firm Relevance Ventures has filed a civil lawsuit against Nyakio Grieco, cofounder of beauty retailer Thirteen Lune, and others in Superior Court in Los Angeles, alleging misappropriation of company funds, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.
Grieco responded to the claims through her attorney, Jeremy Stamelman of Keller Anderle Scolnick, in a statement to WWD: “The March 2025 complaint filed against my client, Nyakio Grieco, is a frivolous attempt to malign her and others. Plaintiffs’ allegations are focused largely on company finances that were managed by the former CEO, Patrick Herning, whose name is notably missing from the March 2025 complaint. Ms. Grieco did not embezzle funds or commit financial fraud at Thirteen Lune. She strongly denies these allegations. We look forward to defeating plaintiffs’ defective claims at the earliest possible opportunity.”
Herning, cofounder of Thirteen Lune and former chief executive officer, who is no longer with the company, declined to comment.
Relevance Ventures alleges that Grieco left shareholders “in the dark” about orchestrating an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors, which was followed by her appointment as CEO. According to the complaint, Thirteen Lune’s net revenue dropped from $24 million in 2023 to about $7 million in 2024.
Grieco is also accused of allegedly embezzling funds for “extravagant personal expenditures” using the company’s American Express Business Platinum Card, including more than $20,000 spent on flights for her family and $7,500 for Taylor Swift tickets.
In December 2024, SNR Capital, which channels brands into the PCA Companies, acquired Thirteen Lune. Subsequently, Grieco became CEO of Thirteen Lune, and Herning exited the business.
Relevance Ventures, which could not be reached for comment, invested about $3 million in Thirteen Lune in May of last year. The firm is seeking “a reimbursement of personal expenses…injunctive relief prohibiting further dissipation of assets, a rescission of the ABC, and the appointment of a receiver over 13 Lune.”
Launched by Grieco and Herning in December 2020, Thirteen Lune began as an online platform selling Black- and brown-owned beauty brands — coming to fruition amid the Black Lives Matter movement — before entering retail and opening a flagship in L.A. In January 2021, the company announced it had raised a seed round of $1 million with early investors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Sean Combs, Naomi Watts, Gregg Renfrew of the Beautycounter, Tracey Cunningham of Mèche salon, former U.S. Ambassador Nicole Avant, venture capitalist Patrick Finnegan and Sydney Holland of Urban and The Mystic — none of whom are listed in the lawsuit or accused of any wrongdoing.
