OMERS Ventures

That's a wrap on our second annual *HR Confidential* - an un-conference conference kicking off Transform. We created HRC to provide a smaller, more intimate space for People leaders to get into the weeds, together, to solve some of HRs most complicated challenges. Sometimes this means uncomfortable conversations and differences of opinions - and we *love* this. One of the most powerful qualities of HR and People leaders is their ability to navigate tough conversations with grace, open minds and good intentions. That's often where the real growth happens - after the tough conversations. We like to say you need a high spice tolerance to attend HRC, and our panelists and attendees kept it hot. Thanks to everyone who spent time with us this year, and our particular gratitude to our exceptional panelists and speakers. And another thank you to our new partner, TD Securities, who allowed us to bring HRC back and bigger than ever. Neil Motwani & his team have been incredible partners and tireless champions of HR teams, platforms and leaders. Hope to see you again next year, and until then, keep it spicy. 🌶️ Eugene Lee Julianna Vitolo Michael Yang Norma Castro Amanda Ashford Michael Yang Darrell Etherington Kim Moore Xaviera D., Nancy Nazer, Ph.D. ICD. Jess Duerden Samara Jaffe Helen Russell, Melanie Naranjo, Gianna Driver Jessica Swank Heather Dunn Danny Guillory Donald Knight Alex Buder Shapiro Kelley Steven-Waiss Juli Gilbert Bryan Power Shelly Morales Coco Brown Serena Ziskroit JD, MAPP

Spent this week at Transform in Las Vegas, having great conversations about the future of work (and some of the more chaotic, challenging and impactful factors affecting the present of work, too). As always, thanks to Samara Jaffe for putting on a fantastic show – bigger and better this year vs. last somehow! And it was great to be able to host our own HR Confidential conference-within-a-conference on day one OMERS Ventures. We had a great program this year, featuring some of the top C-suite people team leaders in the business, including Helen Russell, Danny Guillory, Kelley Steven-Waiss, Alex Buder Shapiro, Jessica Swank, Heather Dunn, Juli Gilbert, Bryan Power, Gianna Driver, Melanie Naranjo – and of course, OMERS' own Nancy Nazer, Ph.D. ICD.! As always, HR Confidential is off-the-record and all about providing a safe space for real talk among peers operating at the upper echelon of their fields, so I won't go into specifics here. If you're interested in joining up with some of the folks mentioned in our exclusive new customer council for CHROs/CPOs/CTOs, though, check out The Forum and register your interest: https://lnkd.in/gps9wbqU Thanks as well to the entire OMERS Ventures team for putting on such a great event, including Norma Castro, Amanda Ashford, Xaviera D., Eugene Lee, Julianna Vitolo, Michael Yang and Kim Moore 🥳 Let's do it all again in 2026!

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the first ever HumanX conference in Las Vegas. It was maybe the most high-impact event I've ever been to, in terms of the sheer caliber of the guests and the people I got the chance to meet and speak with on the ground. It was terrific to be able to meet or catch up with Drew Houston, Victor Riparbelli, David Shim, Christina Cacioppo, Marcelo Lebre, Zach R., jager mcconnell, May Habib, Rahul Vohra and many more, all in one spot. Big thanks also to Andrew Blum and the HumanX team for having me participate as a moderator for on-stage panels. Fantastic discussions all around with Christine Yen, David Cox, Jason Johnson, Sven Gierlinger, Elliott Green, Daniel Nathrath, Bin Ni and Brian Goffman. Looking forward to next year in SF! 👏

🌟 We’re thrilled to introduce the Co-Chairs of the CIX Summit—industry leaders shaping the future of Canadian innovation! 🚀 Laura Lenz, Partner at OMERS Ventures Prashant Matta, Managing Partner at Panache Ventures These experts bring deep insights, experience, and passion for scaling high-growth startups. Learn more about them and the incredible #CIXSummit Advisory Board driving Canada’s top tech investment summit: https://hubs.li/Q03bVP7b0 #TorontoTech #StartupGrowth

The Canadian fintech community is one of the most connected and cohesive in the country. Proof point: last week, This Week in Fintech hosted their first ever event in Canada, at a (fantastic) venue with a 150 person capacity. Almost 500 people registered, including F500 fintech execs, startup founders, investors and industry leaders. Anyone unclear on the ambition of Canadian founders need only attend a fintech event to understand just how much drive this country truly has. Hosted by fintech champions Adyen, Brim Financial, Luge Capital and Notch and moderated by our own Ryan Zauk. You can listen to the recorded sessions on the latest drop of the #TWIF podcast - link in comments. Thanks to everyone who attended for repping Canada's fintech scene. Sander Meijers, Jordan Huck, Rasha Katabi, StartWell, Nik Milanović Laura Lenz, Dave Wechsler

🌟 We’re thrilled to introduce the Co-Chairs of the CIX Summit—industry leaders shaping the future of Canadian innovation! 🚀 Laura Lenz, Partner at OMERS Ventures Prashant Matta, Managing Partner at Panache Ventures These experts bring deep insights, experience, and passion for scaling high-growth startups. Learn more about them and the incredible #CIXSummit Advisory Board driving Canada’s top tech investment summit: https://hubs.li/Q03bVP7b0 #TorontoTech #StartupGrowth

Last week, This Week in Fintech hosted their first ever event in Canada, bringing together 150+ people across the tech ecosystem for an evening of networking, panels from local leaders, and more. In partnership with Adyen, Brim Financial, Luge Capital, and Notch we had nearly 500 people register for a ~150 capacity event, showing the enthusiasm and depth of the Toronto tech ecosystem. Attendees ranged from F500 execs to startup founders and everything in between, with folks traveling in from across Canada to attend. We showcased 2 headline panels with Toronto tech leaders, recorded live and released on our podcast platform today (link in comments): 1. Adyen Head of Canada Sander Meijers + Notch CEO Jordan Huck on their rich product offerings for Canadian businesses, how Adyen’s platform has provided Notch unique advantages, and balancing local / global perspectives when scaling. They also gave a shoutout to OV portfolio company Float on their best-in-class platform. 2. Brim Financial Founder & CEO Rasha Katabi on Brim's product offerings, customer case studies, how her team is leveraging AI, and then left us with inspiring words in the wake of geopolitical uncertainty. Thank you StartWell for the hospitality. This Week in Fintech Nik Milanović Dennis Owusu-Sem Laura Lenz Dave Wechsler Tarique Khan Tal Schwartz Khrystyna Penyk Christina MacDonald Sikand OMERS Ventures Qasim Virjee

People leaders are always on the front lines of any major workforce shift, and AI is the largest scale change many of us have ever seen. This panel will look at the challenges and opportunities AI is bringing to the HR industry as a whole, and what that means for individual leaders. Tickets for our second annual HR Confidential conference at Transform are sold out, but you can join the waitlist here: https://lu.ma/6bal2g5n Alex Buder Shapiro, Kelley Steven-Waiss, Danny Guillory, Julianna Vitolo Eugene Lee Darrell Etherington Neil Motwani

This recap of the first HumanX conference, by our Ryan Zauk brings the pace of AI to life - we're all on this rollercoaster together, whether we're ready or not.

Hot topic alert ‼️ Another exceptional panel will tackle what a new administration means for People leaders at HR Confidential next week, during Transform in Las Vegas. Panelists Jessica Swank, Heather Dunn and Donald Knight will be joined by moderator Darrell Etherington. Co-hosted by our friends at TD Securities. Very limited spots remaining - to register: https://lu.ma/6bal2g5n Eugene Lee, Julianna Vitolo, Kim Moore, Norma Castro, Amanda Ashford, Michael Yang, Xaviera D.