OMERS Ventures taps ex-Uber exec as MD for London office

OMERS Ventures has hired Jambu Palaniappan as a managing partner to its London team. Palaniappan is a former Uber executive.

PRESS RELEASE

Dec 10 2019

Jambu Palaniappan has joined OMERS Ventures as managing partner in London. The former Uber executive brings extensive operational experience from the startup world to the Canadian venture capital firm’s European team. His appointment marks the end of a successful year for OMERS Ventures in which it launched its new European fund and London office, hired ex-Balderton investor Harry Briggs and former Turo founder and LocalGlobe partner Tara Reeves, and injected more than €76 million into the European technology ecosystem.

OMERS Ventures is an early-stage investor in disruptive technology companies shaping the future of how we live and work, from fintech, proptech, insurtech, and healthtech to deeptech, smart cities, and the future of work. Backed by one of Canada’s largest pension plans, OMERS Ventures launched in Europe in March 2019 following eight years in North America that have included notable exits such as Shopify (which went public in 2015, now valued at $38 billion), Password Box (acquired by Intel), and Wave (acquired by H&R Block). Investments in Europe to date include Resi, FirstVet, and Quorso.

Speaking about his move, Palaniappan said: “OMERS Ventures’ enviable track record, high-quality team, and commitment to the European tech startup ecosystem made this an extremely exciting opportunity. Since embarking on its European journey earlier this year, it has already backed some very promising companies. Europe is increasingly fostering companies with the ambition and disruptive potential to become global successes, and I look forward to joining Harry and the team and applying my experience to help the existing and future OMERS Ventures portfolio chart a course for worldwide growth.”

Palaniappan joined Uber in 2012 when it was a 75-person startup focused primarily on the US market, leading its expansion throughout the EMEA region and India over the next 18 months before becoming Regional General Manager for Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Africa. He subsequently headed up Uber Eats in EMEA from its inception. Most recently, he spent the past 12 months as Executive-in-Residence at the London-based venture capital firm Atomico. He has also been an angel investor, backing startups from a wide variety of sectors across the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

With a recent report by Diversity VC highlighting the UK venture capital community’s lack of operational experience within technology startups, Damien Steel, Managing Partner and Head of Ventures at OMERS Ventures, noted the strategic significance of Palaniappan’s arrival: “The scope of venture capital has broadened considerably in recent years, and investors need to add value in so many more ways than just signing cheques. But with less than 10 per cent of UK VCs having operational experience within a startup, it is clear that investor profiles have been slow to evolve to match these new demands. That’s why we’re so excited to welcome Jambu to our team — having overseen the Uber Eats business in EMEA and run the Uber business across a number of markets, he is perfectly placed to ensure OMERS Ventures offers the right support to the startups we back at every stage of their growth journeys.”

OMERS Ventures
OMERS Ventures is the venture capital investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest pension funds with over $95 billion in net assets. OMERS Ventures is a multi-stage investor in growth-oriented, disruptive technology companies across North America.