John is the Founder and Managing Partner of Maverix Private Equity, a private equity firm focused on technology-enabled growth and disruption investment strategies. As a firm run by entrepreneurs, funded by entrepreneurs, and for entrepreneurs, Maverix is investing out of its inaugural fund in the areas of health and wellness, financial services, transportation and logistics, live, work, play and learn, and retail. John chairs the Investment Committee, guides the strategy of the firm, is deeply involved with fundraising and sourcing and leading investment opportunities, particularly within the technology industry. He led Maverix’s first investment in Viral Nation and sits on their board.
John is also the Founder of OMERS Ventures and Co-Founder and Vice Chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators. Over the course of his leadership as the CEO of OMERS Ventures, they invested over USD$500 million in over 40 disruptive technology companies across North America, including growth investments in Shopify, Xanadu, Wattpad, Wave, Hootsuite, Rover, Desire 2 Learn, Hopper, DuckDuckGo, TouchBistro and League. During his tenure at OMERS, John also formed OMERS Platform Investments, as its Executive Managing Director, where he led investments in Purpose Financial, PointNorth Capital, District Ventures, OneEleven and ArcTern Ventures. John also co-founded the Council of Canadian Innovators with Jim Balsillie, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping high-growth Canadian technology firms scale globally. Comprised of CEOs from Canada’s most promising tech companies, the council facilitates collaboration with public policy leaders on key policy levers to optimize the growth of Canada’s innovation-based sector.
Before joining OMERS, in addition to being a Partner at Deloitte, John was their Global Thought Leader, Global Tax Leader, Canadian Industry Leader for their Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) practice, and a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to Deloitte, John was a Partner at Arthur Andersen LLP.
As an active board member, John works with many leading innovative organizations including AI Partnerships Corp. where he is both a co-founder and Chair of the board, engineering.com, Ether Capital, and OneEleven. Previously, John served on the boards of Hootsuite, Wave, Desire 2 Learn (D2L), Purpose Financial, MMM Group, Continuum Residential REIT, OMERS Energy, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), RIV Capital and Communitech. John is equally recognized for his involvement in the non-profit sector, including serving as a member on the boards of the David Suzuki Foundation as Vice-Chair, the CIBC Foundation, the Royal Ontario Museum, Caldwell’s Top 40 Under 40, the Investigative Journalism Foundation, the SSB Dean’s Global Council (DGC) for the Schulich School of Business, and the Federal Government Global Hypergrowth Project.
Throughout his career, John continues to be recognized for his unparalleled contributions to the growth of the technology sector and expansive vision of Canada’s economy. In 2014, John was awarded with the Outstanding Progress & Achievement Award by the Schulich School of Business at York University, an award given to graduates who have demonstrated outstanding career potential and achieved success and recognition in their field. In the same year, John was recognized as Canada’s #1 of 100 Most Powerful Business People by Canadian Business Magazine (#3 in 2015) and was selected as one of Toronto’s 50 Most Influential People by Toronto Life (#16 in 2015, #40 in 2016, #26 in 2017). In 2018, John was honoured with the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, making him a fifth Class Knight. This title is the highest-ranking honour of the Italian Republic and is awarded for “merit acquired by the nation” in the fields of literature, the arts, economy, public service, and social, philanthropic, and humanitarian activities and for long and conspicuous service in civilian and military careers. In 2020, John became a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (FCPA). In 2022, John was awarded the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award in honour to a person who demonstrates outstanding leadership throughout their career and has made a significant and positive impact on the province and beyond.
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