Today's News |
OMERS Ventures Announces Close of $300 Million 'Canada-First' Venture Capital Fund (Fund III)
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Total of $800M Under Firm Management
Vancouver, BC, May 10, 2017--(T-Net)--OMERS Ventures today announced the successful closing of Fund III, its third venture capital fund, with $300 million in commitments.
The OMERS pension plan participated alongside co-investors BMO Financial Group, CIBC, National Bank of Canada, Sun Life Financial, TD Securities, and The Wafra Group.
OMERS Ventures now has a total of $800 million of assets under management.
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Editor's Note: OMERS Ventures is the venture arm of the Ontario Municipal Employee Retirement System, one of Canada's leading pension funds. It has invested directly in a number of well known BC tech companies including Build Direct, Vision Critical and Hootsuite.
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“Raising Fund III was a tremendous success that speaks to the strength and stability of the Canadian tech community,” said John Ruffolo, CEO of OMERS Ventures. “When we launched in 2011, the ecosystem was starved for venture capital and corporate participation. Six years later, our third Fund is oversubscribed, complete with strategic investors and corporate partners. We are proud to operate on a ‘Canada-first' mandate,' and are ready to meet new companies and deploy the next $300 million into the innovation economy.”
"We couldn't be more thrilled to welcome our strategic investors and corporate partners. The wide variety of institutions participating in this latest fund underlines what we at OMERS Ventures have always believed. That is - by working together with like-minded investors, we can help Canadian innovators and our thriving technology ecosystem to scale up,” added Damien Steel, Managing Director, OMERS Ventures.
Fund III is a venture capital fund managed by OMERS Ventures, building on the success of two previous Funds (OMERS Ventures Fund I, Fund II).
OMERS Ventures identifies and is actively involved in the management of the portfolio of companies; investing in 35 across North America which have raised an additional $1.2 billion in additional capital and created over 5,000 jobs.
This role continues to ensure that the portfolio is properly managed to optimize the return for the OMERS Pension Plan and other investors.
Media Contact:
Nicole Kelly