Omers Ventures launches in Europe

Based in London, Harry Briggs is the fund's managing partner. Prior to Omers Ventures, Briggs has worked for BGF Ventures and Balderton Capital.

The multi-stage venture capital investor has also appointed Tara Reeves and Henry Gladwyn for the London office. Reeves joins from seed investor LocalGlobe, and Gladwyn has previously worked on seed investments for the founders of DeepMind.

The London-based team now consists of three members; however, the LP is planning to add two more people over the next six months, Unquote has learned. It is expected that the team would have up to nine members by the end of 2020.

The European fund launch follows Omers Ventures decision to expand its presence to Silicon Valley two months ago. The LP has decided to invest in the UK, despite the uncertainty over Brexit.

"Omers believes that UK remains a great market in which to invest, and London remains the financial capital of Europe. Despite the short-term risk of Brexit, it is still the right longer-term choice," Briggs told Unquote.

Canadian VC firm Inovia Capital has also launched a London office recently, showing its interest towards the UK market. Former Google CFO Patrick Pichette will head up the new London office and will hire another senior professional to assist with the growth fund.

Investor
Omers Ventures currently manages CAD 800m and has previously invested in Shopify and Hopper.

The pension fund parent's global connections are expected to help Omers Ventures to give European founders an advantage in terms of scaling internationally. Omers invests in a diverse range of assets in public and private markets, infrastructure and real estate globally. It has employees in Toronto, London, New York, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Singapore, Sydney and other major cities across North America and Europe.

Investments
The fund targets companies at series-A to B stage, and the typical ticket size would be between €5-10m per round. It also has the capacity to follow on in later rounds. The targeted sectors include health and financial technology, among others.

People
Omers Ventures – Harry Briggs (managing partner).

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