OMERS Ventures has closed its third venture capital fund, with $300 million in commitments from OMERS pension plan, 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.
OMERS Ventures II closed at $260 million in 2015 with commitments from OMERS, BMO Financial Group and Cisco Investments.
“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.
photo credit: OMERS Ventures