OMERS Ventures Opens Silicon Valley Office, Extending Global Presence

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OMERS Ventures

Jan 15, 2019, 07:30 ET

Expands Leadership Team Adding Venture Capital Veteran Michael Yang

SAN FRANCISCO and TORONTO, Jan. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - OMERS Ventures today announced its expansion to the U.S. through the opening of its Silicon Valley office and the hiring of venture capital veteran Michael Yang. OMERS Ventures is a multi-stage, multi-sector venture capital investment arm of OMERS, the defined benefit pension plan for municipal employees in the Province of Ontario, Canada.

Michael Yang brings over a dozen years' of venture capital investing with an early stage focus on e-commerce and emerging technologies such as healthtech, IoT, and AR/VR. His track record of success includes the exits of August (sold to Assa Abloy), Automatic (sold to SiriusXM), BodyMedia (sold to Jawbone) and Healthline (sold to Summit Partners). Alongside this experience and expertise, Michael's deep industry relationships with a key network of strategic leaders, ranging from executives with Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurs, will help further raise the profile of the OMERS Ventures' team and portfolio.

"We are thrilled to expand our physical footprint with dedicated resources to deploy additional capital to startups in the U.S.," said Damien Steel, Managing Partner and Head of Ventures. "And we couldn't ask for a better partner than Michael to lead this expansion of the OMERS Ventures portfolio and brand."

OMERS, with more than $95 billion in net assets, has developed direct investment strategies which cover a diverse range of assets across the globe. The OMERS Ventures office will be located in the Bay Area and will complement the existing team headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Michelle Killoran, Principal, OMERS Ventures, will be relocating from Toronto to Silicon Valley to provide additional strength to the new office.

"OMERS has such a compelling value proposition for startups looking for a strategic partner, with access to patient yet agile venture capital, a strong entrepreneurial network, steadfast resources to support scale and growth, and visibility into technology themes and opportunities spanning both private and public assets," said Michael Yang, Managing Partner, OMERS Ventures. "Michelle and I look forward to building a Bay Area presence."

OMERS Ventures' new Silicon Valley presence provides a bi-coastal and international foothold for the firm to identify promising investment opportunities in emerging and leading markets. This supports a multi-year global strategy for OMERS, which just last year saw the pension plan open an office in Singapore.

Connect with the OMERS Ventures Silicon Valley team

About OMERS and OMERS Ventures

Founded in 1962, OMERS is one of Canada's largest defined benefit pension plans, with more than $95 billion CAD in net assets, as at December 31, 2017. It invests and administers pensions for almost half a million members from municipalities, school boards, emergency services and local agencies across Ontario. OMERS has employees in Toronto and other major cities across North America, the U.K., Europe, Asia and Australia – originating and managing a diversified portfolio of investments in public markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate.

OMERS Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of OMERS, is a multi-stage investor in growth-oriented, disruptive technology companies. OMERS Ventures currently manages $800M CAD across more than 35 investments in North America and Europe. For more information, please visit www.omersventures.com

SOURCE OMERS Ventures