Charles Nelson

Charles Nelson is best known as the co-founder and President of Sprinkles Cupcakes, the company widely credited with launching the modern cupcake-bakery craze. He and his wife, Candace Nelson, both former investment bankers in Silicon Valley, opened the first Sprinkles in Beverly Hills in 2005. The brand grew into an international chain and became a pop-culture landmark, notably inventing the "Cupcake ATM" — a 24-hour automated dispenser — which the couple first opened in Beverly Hills in 2012 and later rolled out across cities including Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and New York.

Nelson earned his MBA from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business (Class of 1996). Before founding Sprinkles, he built a career in investment banking, and he and Candace have consistently framed their operating philosophy around combining that financial/deal background with brand-building and consumer expertise. In 2012, private-equity firm KarpReilly acquired a stake in Sprinkles to fuel expansion, with the Nelsons continuing to steward the brand.

Beyond Sprinkles, Nelson has become a serial consumer entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded the acclaimed Los Angeles pizza concept Pizzana (with chef Daniele Uditi), and in 2020 he and Candace launched CN2 Ventures, a Los Angeles-based investment vehicle through which they invest in, incubate, and support new consumer businesses. Candace Nelson has become a nationally recognized figure as a guest "Shark" on ABC's Shark Tank and a bestselling author, while Charles typically operates on the operating, financial, and investing side of their shared ventures.

• Invests through CN2 Ventures, a consumer-focused fund/studio the Nelsons launched in 2020 and set out to raise ~$25M for its first vehicle.
• Focuses on branded consumer, retail, food/hospitality, and direct-to-consumer companies — categories where the Nelsons have deep operating experience.
• Core thesis is bridging technology and physical retail: they believe brands need a tangible, experiential presence. As Candace Nelson put it, "Even as D2C… it feels soulless unless you experience the brand physically."
• Prefers passion-driven, selective bets over volume — investing only in brands they personally believe in, and willing to take substantial equity stakes (while remaining open to minority positions).
• Brings a hands-on, operator-investor approach, combining investment-banking discipline with brand-building and incubation support rather than passive capital.