Teachers' Venture Growth

On April 23, 2019, Ontario Teachers’ announced the launch of a new investment department, Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP), focused on late-stage venture capital and growth equity investments in companies that use technology to disrupt incumbents and create new sectors. Then Chief Investment Officer Ziad Hindo said the platform would not be anchored to any particular region.⁠[1][1][1][1]

Olivia Steedman was appointed to build and lead TIP as Senior Managing Director. She had been at Ontario Teachers’ since 2002 and was a founding member and senior leader of the infrastructure and natural resources group, which had grown into a global platform.⁠[1][1][1]

In June 2019, the department made its first investment, in SpaceX.⁠[2]

In October 2021, Ontario Teachers’, through the platform and alongside a number of global investors, invested $75 million in FTX International, the international entity of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and its US entity FTX.US; in January 2022, it made a follow-on investment of $20 million in FTX.US, with the aim of gaining small-scale exposure to an emerging area of financial technology. The two investments together represented less than 0.05% of the pension plan’s net assets and equated to ownership of about 0.4% of FTX International and about 0.5% of FTX.US, respectively.⁠[3][3][3][3]

On April 19, 2022, TIP was renamed Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG) to define its offering more clearly, and announced a growth plan: over the next five to ten years, it would more than double the size of its portfolio, raising its share of the pension plan’s net assets from approximately 3% to 7% to 10%. At the time, TVG held a C$7.1 billion portfolio comprising 20 direct investments and partnerships with several top venture funds.⁠[2][2][2]

TVG planned to make 12 hires within a year, with investment areas including fintech, enterprise software, logistics tech, and climate tech, and planned to open an office in San Francisco later that year to work with its offices in Toronto, London, and Hong Kong. Its portfolio companies at the time included ApplyBoard, Epic Games, ComplyAdvantage, Kry, Tanium, and Pony.ai; recent deals included leading the £210 million funding round for the AI-powered consumer finance platform Lendable and participating in the $420 million B-1 funding round for FTX Trading Ltd., the operator of FTX.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2][2]

On November 17, 2022, Ontario Teachers’ issued a statement on developments at FTX: its underwriting of the FTX investment had included working closely with third-party advisors and FTX on commercial, regulatory, tax, financial, technical, and other matters; Ontario Teachers’ acknowledged that no due diligence process can uncover all risks, which was why the investment was sized moderately relative to TVG and the overall plan. It said reports of potential fraud at FTX were deeply concerning for all parties and that it supported the efforts of regulators and others to review the causes of the business’s failure.⁠[3][3][3][3][3]

Ontario Teachers’ announced that it would write down its FTX investment to zero at its year end, saying that because the investment was small relative to its total net assets, the loss would have limited impact on the plan, but that it was disappointed with the outcome and would use the experience to strengthen its approach.⁠[3][3][3]

On April 27, 2026, the Lithuanian secondhand marketplace Vinted completed a €880 million secondary share transaction at an equity valuation of €8 billion, led by EQT, Schroders Capital, and TVG; Vinted did not issue new shares. TVG and Schroders Capital joined as new shareholders, and other new investors included funds managed by BlackRockBlackRockBlackRock is a publicly traded investment management company headquartered in New York, founded in 1988 by Larry Fink and seven others and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker BLK); its businesses include the iShares family of exchange-traded funds and the Aladdin investment and risk management platform. As of June 30, 2026, its assets under management totaled $15.3 trillion.Open the full entry, Lombard Odier Investment Managers, and Pinegrove Opportunity PartnersPinegrove Capital PartnersPinegrove Capital Partners is a US investment firm set up in 2023 through a partnership between Brookfield Asset Management and Sequoia Heritage, providing secondary liquidity and structured capital solutions to the venture capital and growth-stage technology ecosystem; its secondary strategy operates as Pinegrove Opportunity Partners, and after acquiring SVB Capital in 2024 it has operated its venture investment platform as Pinegrove Venture Partners.Open the full entry.⁠[4][4][5][4][4][4]

Avid Larizadeh-Duggan, Head of EMEA for TVG, said Vinted’s marketplace is distinguished by its scale, profitability, and disciplined operating model, and has expanded beyond fashion into adjacent categories such as electronics.⁠[4][4][4]

On September 15, 2026, TVG announced a follow-on investment in the human capital management platform Darwinbox, its second investment following its first in 2025; Managing Director Darius Vakil said the investment reflected conviction in Darwinbox’s ability to redefine workforce management for large enterprises.⁠[6][6][6]

On September 24, 2026, TVG announced that it had participated in the second close of the legal AI platform Harvey’s funding round, which totaled $600 million; part of the funds would be used to grow Harvey’s team in Canada. Senior Managing Director Rick Prostko said that Harvey post-trains its own model and so controls more of the intelligence behind its products, which is a durable advantage.⁠[7][7][7][7]

On September 29, 2026, EliseAI, a company automating housing and healthcare operations, announced that it had raised $350 million at a $4 billion valuation, led by Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from Ontario Teachers’; TVG listed the deal among its own investment news.⁠[8][8][9]

As of October 2026, TVG invests directly in innovative late-stage companies from Series B onward, preferring to lead rounds but also participating alongside like-minded partners, and selectively invests indirectly through fund commitments to leading venture capital and growth equity firms. Its investments span North America, Europe, and Asia; as of December 31, 2025, its net investments were $15 billion, its initial direct investments generally ranged from $50 million to $250 million (shown officially with “$” without specifying the currency), and it had more than 30 investment professionals globally.⁠[9][9][9][9][9]

TVG says it has no cap on how much it can invest or on how long it can hold an investment; as part of Ontario Teachers’ large, diversified portfolio, it can provide cross-over support to companies preparing to go public. Its parent, Ontario Teachers’, had C$303.2 billion in net assets as of June 30, 2026, and provides retirement security for 346,000 teachers in Ontario.⁠[9][9][9][9]

As of October 2026, Olivia Steedman is Executive Managing Director of TVG, Avid Larizadeh Duggan is Senior Managing Director (EMEA), and Rick Prostko is Senior Managing Director (North America).⁠[9][9][9]

Teachers' Venture Growth: Official website: https://www.otpp.com/en-ca/investments/our-investments/teachers-venture-growth/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]