OMERS Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, has closed a US$750 million venture capital fund — its largest fund to date.
The transatlantic fund is investing in companies related to financial systems, insurance, property, logistics, health and workplace technology in Canada, the U.S. and U.K., as well as Europe.
“We are focusing on companies based in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Europe raising Series A to C financing,” said a statement from the firm. “As has always been the case, initial investments typically range between $5M to $25M, with the opportunity for follow-on investments as a company grows. There will be times when we will look at investments on either side of this range, but it gives founders a good steer as to what we are most interested in.”
The establishment of the fund coincides with an increased focus from OMERS Ventures on widening its geographic footprint, having established offices in London and in California’s Silicon Valley, in 2019.
“We’ve believed for a while that as successful startups increasingly meet the demand to ‘go global’ (current circumstances notwithstanding), so too must their investors,” said the statement. “With this fund we are putting our money where our mouth is and offering the founders we back access to a single, unified team, committed to supporting their success across geographies.”