Michael Yang Departs OMERS Ventures as Part of a Strategic Shift

Madison MacLauchlan of BetaKit also reports Michael Yang to depart OMERS Ventures as pension fund refocuses on Canada in “strategic shift”:

Michael Yang is stepping down from his role as head of OMERS Ventures as the Canadian public pension fund undergoes a “strategic shift” to refocus its investment activity in Canada, BetaKit has learned. 

In an email sent today by OMERS managing director Saar Pikar, he noted that the pension fund has decided to increase its focus on Canadian investment “while continuing to pursue selective opportunities in the US through both direct investments and strategic partnerships.” The change comes after a strategic review of OMERS’s private equity business.

As part of the new strategy, Pikar will take on an expanded role as managing director and head of ventures and growth. OMERS Ventures partner Laura Lenz has also been promoted to managing director, the email said. OMERS confirmed both appointments and Yang’s departure in an emailed statement to BetaKit.

“As the first Canadian pension plan to invest directly in early-stage technology, with years of leadership in this space, we are confident that this evolution of our strategy allows us to channel our resources where we can deliver the greatest value to portfolio companies and our members,” an OMERS spokesperson wrote. 

Launched in 2011, OMERS Ventures is the early-stage venture capital (VC) arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS), one of Canada’s largest pension funds. 

In September 2024, OMERS Ventures was moved under a Private Capital group led by Michael Block. This group oversees OMERS’s Ventures, Growth, Green Tech, Life Sciences, European and Asia-Pacific private equity activity, as well as the organization’s global funds strategy.

These changes coincided with the announcement that OMERS Private Equity executive vice-president (VP) and global head of private equity, Michael Graham, would retire in February 2025. OMERS said that Block would take over some of Graham’s responsibilities as part of the transition.

At the time, Yang told BetaKit that the restructuring would not change anything at OMERS Ventures. “Strategy, brand, focus, and resources for Ventures are all the same,” he said.

Yang, who is based in San Francisco, launched the firm’s Palo Alto, Calif.-based United States (US) office in 2019 and led its US VC portfolio. In 2023, Yang replaced Damien Steel as head of OMERS Ventures when Steel left to become CEO of carbon capture startup Deep Sky. Steel has since departed Deep Sky. 

OMERS confirmed that Yang’s last day at the firm was July 21. “We thank him for his contributions over the past five years,” an OMERS spokesperson told BetaKit. 

OMERS’s new strategic direction is not the first time the pension fund has refocused its venture operations. The firm expanded to Europe with a dedicated fund in 2019, launched a transatlantic fund in 2020, and shared plans in early 2023 for a fifth fund with a global investment team. Later that year, however, OMERS Ventures pulled out of the European market and concentrated its investment activity on North America. At the time, the organization told BetaKit that its global ambitions remained, just on a longer timeline. 

BetaKit has reached out to Yang for comment. 

Catherine McIntyre of The Logic also reports Michael Yang is out as OMERS Ventures refocuses on Canada:

OMERS Ventures, the VC arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, has laid off several employees from its U.S. investment team, including Michael Yang, senior managing partner at the firm.

Yang’s layoff marks the fourth departure from the firm’s Bay Area team since last month. Three employees have also left the operations team, leaving just a dozen employees total at OMERS Ventures, down from 19 in June. The layoffs are part of a shift away from U.S. investing to focus more on Canada, according to a source with direct knowledge of the layoffs, as well as communications viewed by The Logic. 

Saar Pikar, managing director of growth equity at OMERS will now also lead the venture capital team. Laura Lenz, meanwhile, is being promoted from partner to managing director. 

The early-stage VC firm opened its Palo Alto, Calif. office in 2019, as it angled to grow its portfolio of tech investments. The firm tapped Yang, who then had over 12 years of experience investing in the Bay Area, to lead the division before promoting him to head of all venture capital in August 2023. Yang’s last day was Monday. News of his departure was first reported by BetaKit.

OMERS Ventures head of marketing Amanda Ashford told The Logic the firm is maintaining its presence in Silicon Valley. “While we will be increasing our focus on the Canadian market, we will be continuing to pursue selective opportunities in the U.S. through direct investments and strategic partnerships,” she said in an emailed statement sent on behalf of the firm. “We have several investors located at our offices in New York and Palo Alto.” Half of the firm’s investment team is based in the Bay Area, down from two-thirds last month, its website shows. 

“As the first Canadian pension plan to invest directly in early-stage technology, with years of leadership in this space, we are confident that this evolution of our strategy allows us to channel our resources where we can deliver the greatest value to portfolio companies and our members,” said Ashford.

Scaling back from the U.S., and Silicon Valley in particular, follows years of sluggish investment activity in the tech sector. Many of Canada’s big pension funds joined the pandemic-era tech buying frenzy. In the years since, high interest rates, inflation and global economic uncertainty have sent many startup valuations cratering from record highs. Investors have been sitting on their cash, waiting for conditions to improve, while tech firms have laid off hundreds of thousands of workers.

Like many VC firms, OMERS Ventures has slowed the pace of its investments. The firm participated in six deals in 2024 and 11 the year prior, PitchBook data shows, down from 29 in 2022 and 22 in 2021. The firm has yet to launch its fifth fund, which it initially planned to do in 2023.

In September, OMERS pulled the venture capital division—which had previously operated at arm’s length from the pension fund—into a newly formed Private Capital group. 

The smaller U.S. presence follows a retreat from Europe. In September 2023, OMERS Ventures closed its London office just four years after it opened. The move was meant to narrow its focus on North America. 

OMERS isn’t the only Canadian pension fund to retreat from the tech epicentre as startup investments lose their lustre. In May, CPP Investments, Canada’s largest pension fund manager, announced it will close its San Francisco office by the end of this year. 

Six months into 2025, Canada’s eight largest pension funds had participated in just six venture capital deals worth a combined US$900 million, down from 73 investments worth US$23.3 billion in all of 2021. The pensions’ contributions to other VC funds have also fallen sharply, from 35 commitments in 2022 to nine in 2024, and just two as of mid-2025. 

Pension funds, meanwhile, are facing more pressure from local entrepreneurs and political leaders to invest more in Canada and bolster the economy amid strained U.S. relations. In December, for instance, Ottawa proposed $1 billion in new funding for the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative, including more enticing terms for pension funds and other institutional investors to participate in the fund-matching program. With the new government in place, however, it’s unclear if that plan will proceed. 

Alright let me give you my quick thoughts here.

First, this has nothing to do with Michael Yang who is a very experienced venture capital investor.

Second, the environment for venture capital has been brutal. Funding for new VC firms has turned sharply downward, putting enormous pressure on newcomers. 

Venture capital has always been a brutal game but it has been particularly brutal in the last couple of years.

And that goes for all funds, not just OMERS, as you can read in the second article above. 

Third, and most importantly, OMERS is revamping its private equity group.

BetaKit notes that in September 2024, OMERS Ventures was moved under a Private Capital group led by Michael Block. This group oversees OMERS’s Ventures, Growth, Green Tech, Life Sciences, European and Asia-Pacific private equity activity, as well as the organization’s global funds strategy. 

Back in March, Alexander Fraser was appointed to lead OMERS Private Equity and he is slowly putting his strategy in play.

As stated above, Saar Pikar, managing director of growth equity at OMERS will now also lead the venture capital team. Laura Lenz, meanwhile, is being promoted from partner to managing director.

Truth be told, things aren't just tough in venture capital, they're also tough in private equity especially for mid-sized funds that aren't able to diversify into infrastructure and private credit like the PE giants. 

So, without knowing all the details, I see OMERS regrouping its fund activities under Michael Block and that's where OMERS Ventures will reside.

I was never a big fan of having subsidiaries for venture capital groups at pension funds.

I get it, brand and they like to operate independently but for me it's all part of Private Equity and should reside there even if there's more risk in that portfolio.

Lastly, The Logic article above ends with this:

Pension funds, meanwhile, are facing more pressure from local entrepreneurs and political leaders to invest more in Canada and bolster the economy amid strained U.S. relations. In December, for instance, Ottawa proposed $1 billion in new funding for the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative, including more enticing terms for pension funds and other institutional investors to participate in the fund-matching program. With the new government in place, however, it’s unclear if that plan will proceed.  

I take this with a grain of salt, not sure if there's really a concerted effort to focus on Canadian venture capital because when the tide shifts, everyone will be clamouring to get back into US venture cap.

Anyway, we shall see how this all plays out but the investment professionals at OMERS led by Ralph Berg are all smart and experienced so I trust they know better than anyone where they want to focus now. 

Below, the HLTH Daily Show featuring Michael Yang, then Managing Partner of OMERS Ventures (2022). Like I said, this guy is really sharp and experienced, it's too bad things didn't work out at OMERS but he's top notch.

Second, VCs only raised $26.6B in the first half of 2025 — a massive drop from 2022’s $200B peak. But Jason Calacanis explains why the environment may be shifting back in favour of fundraising. 

With potential blockbuster IPOs from Canva, Figma, Stripe, and SpaceX on the horizon, and excitement around AI infrastructure like CoreWeave and Circle, investor confidence is starting to rebound. 

Still, the big question remains: when does all this tech actually start hitting the bottom line? Listen to this interesting discussion below.