OMERS Ventures Announces Hiring of Haroon F. Mirza as Entrepreneur in Residence

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug. 6, 2013) - OMERS Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of the OMERS pension plan, announces Haroon F. Mirza is joining its team as their first Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR). In this role, Mr. Mirza will contribute to the identification and execution of investment opportunities in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) sectors.

"We are proud to welcome Haroon to OMERS Ventures as an Entrepreneur in Residence. He is an accomplished innovator and leader with a passion to advance entrepreneurship, who will be a tremendous asset to OMERS Ventures and our portfolio companies," said John Ruffolo, CEO of OMERS Ventures. "With his background as a successful entrepreneur, operator, and mentor, Haroon will also help OMERS Ventures deepen our relationships within the venture capital and business communities."

Prior to joining OMERS Ventures, Haroon was Director of Business Development - Anonymous Viewer Analytics at Intel Corp. Before that, he was the co-founder and CEO of CognoVision, an award-winning retail analytics provider. CognoVision was named Canada's Most Innovative Company in 2009, and was acquired by Intel in September 2010. Haroon has also served as a consultant for the Carleton University Foundry Program, evaluating technology startups and obtaining pre-seed capital to commercialize on-campus technologies.

Haroon graduated from Carleton University's Sprott School of Business with a Bachelor of Commerce, and Harvard Business School's Program for Leadership Development (PLD). He serves on the board of TiE Toronto, and acts as a mentor with Extreme Startups, JOLT (MaRS), and TiE.

About OMERS Ventures

OMERS Ventures (Twitter:@OMERSVentures) is the venture capital investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada's largest pension funds with more than $55 billion in net assets. It is an initiative of OMERS Strategic Investments (OSI), an investment entity with a mandate to build long-term strategic relationships with like-minded partners. As both an institutional angel investor and a later-stage investor, OMERS Ventures is looking for successful companies with significant growth potential and market opportunities. We are seeking like-minded partners with a shared vision of building a vibrant and successful knowledge economy. For more information please visit http://www.omersventures.com/.