Omers Ventures, a multi-stage, multi-sector investor headquartered in Toronto, has launched a €300m European fund.
The venture capital investment arm of Omers, Omers Ventures is a multi-stage investor in growth-oriented, technology companies. The arm currently manages $800M CAD across more than 35 investments in North America and Europe including breakout companies such as Shopify and Hopper.
The fund, which follows the launch of Silicon Valley office earlier this year, plans to make long-term investments in some of the continent’s most innovative technology startups. It will target companies at Series A-to-B stage, and will typically invest between €5m-€10m per round, while having the capacity to follow on strongly in later rounds.
Harry Briggs, ex-BGF & Balderton Capital, has been hired as the fund’s Managing Partner based in London. He brings long experience of the continent’s entrepreneurial tech sector to the role having spent nearly six years with Balderton Capital, a top tier European venture firm and latterly three years at BGF Ventures. Investments include The Hut Group, which has raised over €1.6bn, Magic Pony (acquired by Twitter in 2016), GoCardless, Paddle, Touch Surgery, Appear Here and Revolut. Before Balderton, he co-founded Firefly Tonics, a health drinks company, which he expanded to 35 countries, before selling to private equity firm Langholm Capital.
He is joined by Tara Reeves, who joins from LocalGlobe. As a partner with LocalGlobe, Reeves led investments in, among others, Bricklane, Cleo, Cuvva, Floodflash, Tide and Trussle. She also co-founded Turo, a car-sharing marketplace that has raised over $200m.
Founded in 1962, Omers is one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans, with $97 billion in net assets as at December 31, 2018. It invests and administers pensions on behalf of almost half a million active and retired members.
Omers has employees in Toronto, London, New York, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Singapore, Sydney and other major cities across North America and Europe – originating and managing a diversified portfolio of high-quality investments in public markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate.
FinSMEs
25/03/2019