Paine Pacific, LLC was founded by Nels Paine in 1998 to apply his personal experience in operations, management, fundraising, and M&A transactions to the unserved small to mid-cap markets. Nels has a strong family background in investment banking and venture capital - his great grandfather started a brokerage/investment banking business in 1880 (Paine Webber) and his father was one of the first venture capitalists (Oscco Ventures) to break ground in Northern California (Sand Hill Road) in 1962. Growing up around the venture capital business laid the groundwork for his interest and subsequent career in small to mid-size businesses. He has proven success in building, managing and achieving product, marketing and financial goals of small businesses, start ups, and turnarounds with twelve years experience in the technology and high technology industries for medical and computer products.

Nels spent the first part of his career in the computer technology and software businesses at the Bank of Boston and at Software Developers Company in Boston, MA. Following the decline in the market in Boston, he relocated with his family to Oregon, joining a turn-around team for a software development company in 1991. After rebuilding and selling this business, he co-founded a spin-off software publishing business that he sold two years later. In 1994, Nels co-founded a medical device company which he sold in 1997. Taking this broad experience, Nels founded Paine Pacific in 1998 to provide M&A services to a broad range of companies within the technology and services markets. Nels graduated from SMU in 1988. Nels is an avid outdoorsman and cyclist and living in Portland with his wife and children.