OMERS Ventures, with new SV office, speeds effort to build global platform

OMERS Ventures, the VC arm of the $95 billion Canadian pension fund OMERS, is accelerating an ambitious strategy to establish itself as a global platform. OV is eyeing vistas in the U.S. and Europe with the goal of getting “feet on the street” in key tech hubs, Head of Ventures Damien Steel said. The strategy was put into action in January as the firm opened an office in Silicon Valley and hired Michael Yang, formerly managing director of Comcast Ventures, to run it. As a next step, OV will begin evaluating opportunities in Europe, a process that is likely to result in an presence in London, Steel said.