Seasoned beauty executive Vasiliki Petrou has launched her own company, Veralis Group Ltd.
Petrou, who served as Unilever Prestige chief executive officer for a decade, said on LinkedIn that Veralis was “created to support founders at the intersection of beauty, wellness, longevity and consumer health. Our goal is to build ecosystems where everyone wins, and I am excited to start this new chapter with inspiring partners and collaborators.”
Petrou began Unilever Prestige from scratch in 2014 and within 10 years assembled a 1.4 billion-euro division through an M&A-based strategy.
She spearheaded a series of acquisitions at the CPG giant, starting with the much sought-after Dermalogica in 2015 for an estimated purchase price of $1 billion. Petrou built a division that by the time of her departure in June 2024 encompassed 11 brands overall. Her last acquisition there was the buzzy haircare player K-18 Biomimetic Hair Science.
Petrou is known for taking a founder-first approach to the business. “I don’t like one-size-fits-all,” she said in a WWD article last year. “No cookie-cutter.”
Under her leadership, Unilever became known for successfully integrating founder-led brands into the company with a method that respected the vision of the founder while allowing the brands to capitalize on the operational expertise and scale of the parent company.
Earlier in her career, Petrou served as vice president of personal care at Unilever, and spent almost 19 years at Procter & Gamble in various positions, including as global managing director, marketing director and U.K. marketing manager of haircare.
There is nothing cookie-cutter about Petrou, who eschews the traditional corporate uniform in favor of suits in tangerine, lime and hot pink and boldly patterned Pucci print shirts. Raised in Volos, Greece, Petrou earned a master’s degree in American literature at the University of Texas. A post-graduation job in crisis management at Burson Marsteller spurred a desire to work in business, and Petrou headed to Columbia University, where she earned her MBA.
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