The venture capital investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System has successfully closed its third venture capital fund, with $300 million in commitments.
The OMERS pension plan participated in the third fund 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 in assets under management.
“Raising Fund III was a tremendous success that speaks to the strength and stability of the Canadian tech community,” John Ruffolo, chief executive officer of OMERS Ventures, said in a release. “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.
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“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.”
OMERS Ventures has invested in 35 companies across North America that have raised an additional $1.2 billion and created more than 5,000 jobs.
“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,” said Damien Steel, managing director of OMERS Ventures.
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