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West Lane Capital Partners
West Lane Capital Partners buys founder-owned consumer brands with $5–25M in revenue, run by Nick Sternberg and Jake Duneier in Los Angeles.
West Lane Capital Partners
West Lane Capital Partners was founded in Los Angeles by Nick Sternberg and Jake Duneier, two operators who built their careers inside the direct-to-consumer ecosystem before formalizing an investment platform. Sternberg previously founded and exited an e-commerce brand; Duneier ran operations and supply chain for scaled consumer businesses. The firm's architecture reflects that operating DNA rather than a traditional finance-first private equity model. The firm targets profitable, founder-owned consumer brands with $5–25 million in annual revenue, operating in categories including health-and-wellness, apparel, beauty, and specialty e-commerce. West Lane executes majority buyouts and corporate carve-outs, then embeds operational resources into the acquired companies — handling logistics, digital marketing, and supply-chain restructuring post-close. The firm has acquired and scaled brands such as Owlet, the baby-monitoring company it restructured and repositioned, and Hudson Childrenswear, a legacy brand it modernized through e-commerce channel development. The geographic focus is North America, with supply-chain exposure extending into Asia. West Lane operates with a lean team in Los Angeles. The firm does not publicly disclose assets under management or total capital deployed. In recent years, the firm has concentrated on building a portfolio of cash-flowing digital-native brands, often acquiring them from founders seeking liquidity without ceding control to strategic buyers or large-cap private equity. The firm has not publicly disclosed fundraising vehicles or limited-partner structures, and it does not appear to operate ancillary philanthropic foundations or club-format co-investment vehicles. What distinguishes West Lane from generalist lower-middle-market buyers is the operator-led integration team that takes over brand management post-acquisition. Most firms at this deal-size bracket rely on portfolio-company management to execute; West Lane installs its own operating playbook across supply chain, performance marketing, and Amazon marketplace strategy — a structure closer to a holding company than a financial sponsor. The founding partners' personal operating history in e-commerce means the firm underwrite deals with operator conviction rather than financial engineering alone.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Los Angeles
Corporate office
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Principals
Nick Sternberg
Managing Partner
Jake Duneier
Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at West Lane Capital Partners?
Nick Sternberg and Jake Duneier co-lead the firm as Managing Partner and Partner, respectively. Both have operating backgrounds in e-commerce — Sternberg founded and sold a direct-to-consumer brand, and Duneier specialized in operations and supply chain for scaled consumer companies. Investment decisions are made by this core partnership group without a separate investment committee structure disclosed to the public.
How does West Lane source its deals?
The firm sources primarily through founder relationships and its network within the direct-to-consumer ecosystem. Because both principals are former e-commerce operators, much of the pipeline comes from referrals within founder communities, industry events, and direct outreach to bootstrapped brands. The firm does not rely on broad auction processes, targeting situations where founder relationships and operating credibility give it an edge over financial buyers.
What investment stages and revenue thresholds does West Lane target?
West Lane targets profitable, post-revenue consumer brands generating $5 million to $25 million in annual revenue. The firm avoids early-stage venture and pre-revenue companies. It focuses on majority buyouts and corporate carve-outs rather than minority growth equity, and does not typically invest in distressed or turnaround situations unless the underlying brand has a viable e-commerce repositioning path.
Does West Lane participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
West Lane executes direct deals only — it buys majority positions in operating companies and does not invest as a limited partner in third-party funds. The firm has not publicly disclosed a fund structure; its capital may be deployed via committed capital vehicles, deal-by-deal syndication, or a permanent-capital holding-company model, though specific details remain private.
Which sectors does West Lane explicitly avoid?
The firm does not invest in technology infrastructure, enterprise SaaS, biotech, or any sector requiring regulatory approvals outside consumer product compliance. It also avoids capital-intensive manufacturing and brick-and-mortar retail rollups where the core value is real estate rather than brand equity or e-commerce distribution. West Lane stays within consumer categories where Amazon, Shopify, and direct-to-consumer channels are the primary sales vectors.
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