Grant Palmer

Grant Palmer is a private equity investor who spent his career in the consumer and lower-middle-market buyout space. He began in finance at Lehman Brothers, working in the firm's Global Mergers & Acquisitions investment banking practice in New York (from ~2007) before moving to Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking (LBMB) as an associate. When LBMB spun out to become the independent firm Trilantic Capital Partners / Trilantic North America in 2009, Palmer joined at inception and spent roughly 14 years there.

At Trilantic he focused primarily on the consumer sector and rose through the ranks, being promoted to Partner in February 2018 — the firm's 11th partner and a member of its investment committee. Chairman Charlie Ayres, announcing the promotion, said Palmer "has played a key strategic role in recent transactions" and had "earned the respect of our investors and portfolio company management teams alike." During his tenure he led or helped lead investments in brands such as Traeger Pellet Grills and OrthoLite and sat on multiple portfolio-company boards.

In 2023 Palmer left Trilantic and joined Orangewood Partners as a Managing Director, where he is involved in sourcing, deal execution, and portfolio management. Orangewood, founded in 2015 and based in New York, pursues growth and special-situations private equity in partnership with founder-led businesses, primarily in consumer, non-discretionary healthcare, and multi-unit/franchise sectors — a strategy well aligned with Palmer's consumer background.

He holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.A. in Economics and History from Duke University.

• Invests in established, cash-generating businesses, not startups — control and structured-minority equity in companies with roughly $5M–$25M+ of EBITDA, a very different profile from the "seed/angel" label sometimes attached to him.
• Deep specialization in the consumer sector: branded products, outdoor/lifestyle, and health & wellness (e.g., Traeger, OrthoLite, Implus, SRAM).
• At Orangewood, the mandate broadens to founder-led and family-owned businesses in consumer, non-discretionary healthcare, and multi-unit/franchise categories — "fragmented markets ripe for scale."
• Prefers partnering with founders and management teams and building platforms through operational improvement and add-on acquisitions/consolidation rather than passive minority stakes.
• Geographic focus is North America, run out of New York.