OMERS Ventures

OMERS Ventures
Name	OMERS Ventures
Type	Corporate venture capital
Industry	Venture capital
Founded	2011
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Parent	OMERS
Key people	Mehran Sheikhzadeh, Claudio Fernandez, Arielle Sacks
Assets under management	(varies)

OMERS Ventures is the venture capital arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System parent OMERS. It operates as a growth-stage and early-stage investor focused on technology-enabled companies across North America and Europe, targeting sectors such as Software as a Service, Fintech, Healthtech, and Enterprise software. The fund has been involved in multiple high-profile financing rounds, secondary purchases, and exits, working alongside Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital, and Accel Partners in various transactions.

History

OMERS Ventures was established by OMERS to expand the pension plan's exposure to innovation and private markets, following similar initiatives by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation. Early operations involved hiring teams with experience from firms such as RBC Capital Markets, Bain Capital Ventures, and Goldman Sachs. Over time the firm opened offices in cities including Toronto, San Francisco, London, and New York City to access hubs like Silicon Valley, London Tech City, and MaRS Discovery District. Notable timeline items include participation in rounds for companies associated with accelerators such as Y Combinator and Techstars, and partnerships with crossover investors like SoftBank Vision Fund.

Investment Strategy and Focus

The fund pursues a strategy combining growth equity and early-stage venture investments, emphasizing scalable business models in Cloud computing, Artificial intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Digital health. OMERS Ventures typically leads or co-leads Series A through late-stage rounds, employs follow-on reserves for expansion rounds, and engages in secondary transactions to provide liquidity to founders and early backers. Its thesis aligns with portfolio companies that address enterprise customers such as Airbnb, Shopify, Salesforce, and Uber—sectors where network effects, high gross margins, and subscription revenue models prevail. Deal sourcing leverages relationships with corporate venture arms like Intel Capital, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Portfolio and Notable Investments

The portfolio spans dozens of companies across software, fintech, and health. Notable investments have included stakes in firms comparable to Lightspeed Commerce, Hopper, Ada Support, Algolia, Flipkart-era investors, and fast-growing startups formerly backed by Benchmark Capital or Index Ventures. OMERS Ventures has participated in rounds for companies that later achieved exits via acquisitions by conglomerates like Microsoft, Google, and Adobe Systems or public listings on exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. The fund also holds positions in recurring-revenue businesses with substantial annual recurring revenue (ARR), often partnering with secondary marketplaces and crossover funds like Dragoneer Investment Group.

Organizational Structure and Leadership

The investment team is organized into cross-border pods covering North America and Europe, with sector specialists in Fintech, Healthtech, and Enterprise software. Senior partners and managing directors have backgrounds at firms including Bessemer Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, and General Atlantic. Governance and compliance oversight are provided by the parent pension board at OMERS, which includes fiduciaries and trustees responsible for asset allocation decisions. Investment committees often consult external advisors such as former executives from Intel Corporation, IBM, SAP SE, and founders who scaled companies through IPOs at Nasdaq.

Performance and Returns

OMERS Ventures reports performance as part of OMERS’ broader private markets allocation, contributing to net internal rates of return (IRR) and multiples on invested capital (MOIC) across vintages. Returns have been driven by successful exits, secondary sales, and appreciation of late-stage stakes; comparable returns are often benchmarked against indices created by Cambridge Associates and Preqin. Performance attribution emphasizes realized exits to strategic acquirers and public listings, while risk management highlights portfolio diversification, capital preservation measures, and co-investment structures shared with limited partners such as Pension Protection Fund-style entities.

Partnerships and Fundraising

Fundraising and capital deployment are coordinated with OMERS’ treasury and institutional relationships, enabling larger check sizes and follow-on capacity relative to standalone venture firms. OMERS Ventures forms co-investment partnerships with institutional investors including Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, CPP Investments (the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board), and family offices, as well as syndicating rounds with venture firms like Lightspeed Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins, and Andreessen Horowitz. Strategic partnerships have included corporate collaboration with Cisco Systems, Salesforce, and participation in consortiums for themed funds focusing on Artificial intelligence and Climate tech.

Category:Venture capital firms