OMERS Ventures establishes tech fund, BCI closes stake in water company
OMERS Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, has closed a US$750 million venture capital fund.
The transatlantic fund is investing in companies related to financial systems, insurance, property, logistics, health and workplace technology in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and other countries in Europe, raising series-A to series-C financing.
“As has always been the case, initial investments typically range between $5 million to $25 million, with the opportunity for follow-on investments as a company grows,” said a statement from the organization. “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.”
Read: OMERS Ventures hires former Uber executive as London managing partner
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 OMERS. “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.”
In other investment news, the British Columbia Investment Management Corp. has closed its previously announced investment in U.K.-based water purification company Waterlogic.
In January, the BCI entered an agreement to acquire a significant minority stake in Waterlogic. Since then, three other investors — Neuberger Berman, StepStone Group and Skandia Inc. — have come on board.